#shut up itzel

[kajillionaires]

looping the 10 sec “eat your young” snippet hozier posted like

#hozier #eat your young #shut up itzel #awhozier moment

[cozypretzel]

I met my husband on tinder. He was the first and only guy that I chatted with and decided to meet in person. Sometimes I look at him and it’s like, imagine if one of us just decided not to go for it and download the app. Our two children would never have been born, who knows where either of us would be living in right now, how many memories would just have never existed. What a wild domino effect. This makes my brain itchy 🥴

#tinder #married life #shut up itzel

[skylarstark4826]

King Namor would always tell his two children stories of people who lived in the sea. These stories were their favorite bedtime stories when they were younger. Now, when their father tries to tell them more stories of people who lived in the sea, Prince Attuma and Princess Namora would just roll their eyes at their dad. The brother and sister duo liked to explore by way of sea constantly and had never seen these so-called people who live in the waters. Even though the two would constantly bicker while at home in the kingdom of Talokan they worked well together while sailing. They’ve been to multiple countries and most of the other continents together. They got their love of sailing from their father who would be at sea most of his days before Attuma was born. Then, he started sailing less and he kept it to a minimum when Namora was born. After their mother died in an accident when they were little King Namor gave up sailing all together. When his children were old enough he taught them to sail and had them continue in person trades with other countries.

Attuma watched as his sister swung gracefully over his head through the sails. Namora preferred to work the sails and observe the sea while he preferred to steer the ship. There were numerous Talokanil sailors tasked to go with them both for company and to keep them safe. Attuma was softly humming a tune that he remembered his mother singing to him and his sister. He heard a soft thump on the deck behind him and turned enough to see Namora behind him. Her long black hair was twisted up on top of her head, she wore a dark blue dress that went just a little past her knees and no shoes. She swore that the lack of shoes helped her get around the sails easier and he had shrugged in response. The crew was entirely men besides one other woman, their cousin Itzel, who was the ship’s cook. The crew had expressed concern over a woman working the sails but Attuma shut that down immediately. His little sister was perfectly capable of working the sails and she’d ask for help if she needed it, which wasn’t often. Underneath the crystal blue water off of the continent of Africa, there was an underwater kingdom called Wakanda. The kingdom housed an entire population of merfolk throughout their land. King T’chaka and Queen Ramonda had three kids, two daughters and a son. T’challa was the oldest, followed by Shuri and then Riri as the youngest. The three siblings were thick as thieves and constantly got into trouble together along with their cousins Eric and Okoye. The five young royal merfolk were giving King T’chaka gray hairs but his wife just laughed at their shenanigans. She was always telling him to let them cause trouble for now so that they’ll be better to rule their underwater nation together. Okoye and Riri always wandered too far from the castle while T’challa, Shuri and Eric preferred to stay close to home. Shuri could always find whatever she needed for her experiments not far off from the castle. T’challa and Eric were always either helping her gather things or trying to keep the wanderers close by. It could be exhausting being the only men out of the bunch but they wouldn't trade it for the world, they loved their sisters and would do anything for them.

Okoye and Riri had just returned to their little cave with more human items that they had found while exploring. The woman and young girl worked together to place the items with other ones like them. The two swam back and admired all of their human things that they’ve collected together over the years. “I wonder what it would be like to live on the surface.” Riri said to no one in particular. Okoye nodded in agreement then the two of them swam back towards the palace. On their way back they were accosted by a crab and a fish, Ayo and Aneka. Ayo was a mostly red crab although she had some purple dusting her shell. Aneka was a small but beautiful fish and she was mostly purple with some orange in the middle. “Where have you two been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Ayo questioned as they all began to move towards the palace. “We’ve been out exploring, don’t worry we were being safe.” Okoye replied to the crab. Ayo began muttering something under her breath about not wanting children and Okoye rolled her eyes.

When the four entered the palace they went right to the throne room. King T’chaka, Queen Ramonda, Prince T’challa, Princess Shuri and Prince Eric were already there and waiting for them to arrive. “I’m sorry we’re late uncle, we lost track of time while exploring.” Okoye explained to the king. “Don’t worry dear niece, you aren’t that late. You’ve arrived before the council has.” Queen Ramonda answered in a gentle tone. Okoye nodded, then she and Riri took their places in their seats as the royal family waited for the council to join them for the meeting. It wasn’t long after Okoye and Riri joined their family that the council joined them as well. Ayo was standing on the armrest of King T’chaka’s throne while Aneka swam around The Princes and Princesses. Okoye looked at her brother and cousins and could see that they were all bored out of their minds. She was as well and wished she could just leave, the king along with his council weren’t ready to step down from ruling yet so why were they even here? The meeting felt like it lasted for millennia rather than the hour it probably actually lasted. As soon as they were excused the cousins left as fast as they could.

Namora sighed as she stared at the water over the side of the ship. Attuma had asked her to stay on board with Itzel and a few crew members because the person they were at port to trade with didn’t like women being present during negotiations. Her older brother had promised to take her to the market afterwards so she supposed it was ok that she was stuck on the ship. She never understood why men in other countries had such backwards thinking, maybe it’s because she was raised as an equal to her brother her whole life. She is an equal to her older brother and didn’t know why others didn’t get that. Namora paced around the ship while waiting for Attuma to return to take her to the market. He returned two hours later and took her with him to the market. The two looked around together when something caught her eye, it was a jade statuette that had a family of merfolk carved on it. She wordlessly held it up to her brother and he nodded then turned to the vendor to buy it for her. Once it was purchased she happily slipped it into the little satchel that she carried. Their father had made it for her on her twelfth birthday and it’s held up since then. She skipped along behind Attuma and got a few more trinkets to add to the collection in her room.

When the siblings returned to the ship that got ready to set sail to Africa. They had a client there who was willing to give them cloth and other things in exchange for some weapons. Talokan always kept enough weapons for its military but they preferred not to use them. They were more than happy to give others who needed them the weapons that sat collecting dust. Namora was back up amongst the sails while Attuma was behind the steering wheel. Several of the other crew members hoisted the anchor so they could set sail again. Once the anchor was up they slowly moved their way out of the harbor and towards the open sea. When they hit open water they were met with a strong gust of wind and started to travel faster.

Okoye and Riri decided to head towards the town on the west coast of Africa where they liked to watch the townsfolk. They watched people walking around the market that was near the water from behind a rock. They were far enough out that hardly anyone looked that way and even if they did, they wouldn’t spot the mermaids with the way they were looking around the rock. Okoye saw two people walking by together with a few men trailing behind them. The two seemed to be brother and sister so the people behind them might be a crew or guards of some sort. The tall man that was walking alongside the girl was a handsome man. His long dark hair was tied back into a ponytail and he watched his sister as she sometimes skipped a ways ahead of him. “Wow, he’s gorgeous.” Okoye whispered. “Where is he? I want to see the man you’re looking at too.” Riri whispered excitedly and Okoye showed her. Her eyes widened as she looked at the siblings. “Woah, he is gorgeous and so is the girl with him. They look like they’re away from home though.” Riri babbled with excitement. Okoye had to admit that her young cousin was right, they had never seen these two around before. ‘I wonder where they came here from.’ she thought as the two continued to watch them.

Namora sat outside their clients home and was pouting, of course he was another man that looked down on women. She was grateful to be off the ship this time and on solid ground. She turned and looked out to the vast expanse of the sea, hoping they’d return home soon. She loved to travel with her older brother but they’d been away from home for a while now and she misses their father. While she was looking at the sea, Namora could’ve sworn that she saw two heads out in the water. The girl shook her head then rubbed at her eyes, it’s official, she’s been at sea for too long. Attuma had promised this was their last trading destination then they’d head home. He didn’t return to her until nearly three hours later and he took her to dinner at a place that their client recommended, this was his way of apologizing for taking so long. After dinner they went back to the ship and decided to stay in harbor for the night because some fishermen and other sailors said a storm was going to blow through a few miles out from the town. Namora slept buried against her brother’s side that night due to the thunder and he held her tight.

Okoye and Riri decided to recruit the others to follow this ship they had seen to see where it went back to. T’challa, Eric and Shuri agreed to follow them and told the king and queen that they needed some supplies further out from home. The ship stayed overnight in the town’s harbor due to a bad storm a few miles out. The next morning the five cousins tailed the ship as it headed out to the sea. They knew it’d be a while before they reached wherever they were going. They coasted in the wake coming from the ship and would take turns popping their heads up to look at the people on the ship. They all agreed that the crew of the ship were very beautiful people. This knowledge made them eager to see where the ship returned to. It took a few days but they finally entered the waters close to the continent of North America. They followed the ship cautiously but they didn’t head towards the country now called The United States. The ship pulled into a harbor that was outside a kingdom and was met with a man on the dock that had graying hair. The girl half launched herself off the ship and into the man’s arms causing them to realize that this was the siblings’ father.

Attuma was happy to be home but he couldn’t help thinking that he was going crazy. Occasionally on their voyage home, Attuma could’ve sworn he’d seen heads in the water. Namora agreed with him and said she saw the same thing in the water. One of them was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, she looked a little older than him and had long hair that was braided. When asked about it Namora said she’d seen a girl about her age who also had braided hair. They wondered if they’d be able to somehow meet these people who live in the water. One night, the siblings go down to the dock to see if they could spot the people again. It wasn’t long before five heads emerged from the water. There were two men and another woman with them, he assumed they were family members. They all talked to each other for hours and the merfolk even showed off their colorful tails. There was even a fascinating colored crab and a beautiful colored tropical fish.

The group of royals discussed random topics until Namora and Attuma saw a lantern coming towards them from the palace. The group split up with promises of seeing each other again as soon as they could. By the time the guards reached the brother and sister the merfolk were already gone. They walked back to the palace with questions on how to help their new companions live on land with them.

#okoye x attuma #attuma x okoye #attoye #attuma and okoye #general okoye #mcu okoye #black panther okoye #attuma of talokan #mcu attuma #okoye #attuma #black panther #black panther wakanda forever #Human!Okoye #human!okoye #Merman!Attuma #merman!attuma

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

Author: Jonny Garza Villa

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Child Abuse | Homophobia | Bullying | Underaged Drinking

Overall Rating: 10/10

Personal Opinion: One of my favorite books of all time. Julian wants to escape his narrow-minded small town to go to a place that would welcome him and his rainbow glory. He meets Mat (who is from Southern California) online and they instantly hit it off. Before long, they’re having late-night conversations, sending each other gifts, and calling each other adorable pet names. If you want to fall in love with a couple, look no further than Jules and Mat in this book!

Do I Own This Book? Yes! This is actually my most favorite book currently so I bought a copy of my own almost immediately after I read it.

Couple Classification: Julian Luna X Mat Troi Pham = Jock/Nerd X Nerd/Prep (?)

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- AN ASIAN LOVE INTEREST who is GAY and crushed on FIRST! Mat Pham is Viet and he’s gay and he is happily in love with Julian Luna. Like the two of them are literally so cute together! They’re interracial, they call each other “Sunshine” (because “Mat Troi” means “sun”) and “Moonlight” (because “Luna” means “moon”) and god, I just want them to be happy for eternity! Like they cheer each other up when they’re down. They have great chemistry! It’s clear that they love each other in the gifts they exchange and the words they say, it kills me how cute they are! Plus, all of Mat’s siblings are queer too. His brother is bi and is married to a Filipino man and his sister is a lesbian. They said “the bloodline ends with us” and I find that hilarious and amazing. Especially because their parents are so accepting and loving of all three of their queer kids.

- Yo, the friendships are so good too! Jordan, Itzel, and Lou are unapologetically Julian’s friends even after he’s accidentally outed, it’s crazy. They ride or die for him. Rolie too. He admits to feeling awkward in the beginning and worrying that their friendship will end but once he saw Julian harassed, he did not hesitate to throw down for his friend. It makes sense given his machismo upbringing too. But like Julian said, he turned out well. Lou is also pansexual and Jordan’s been Julian’s protector since day 1. Plus, they all already suspected that Julian was gay but they respected him and his choice to come out whenever. No pressure. And that is a sign of a beautiful bond. Such an amazing chosen family.

- Finally! A book where being hesitant to come out makes so much sense! Julian lives in the deep south and he grew up with a homophobic, physically abusive father who would beat him for doing any act that could be perceived as queer. It’s no wonder Julian was scared out of his mind and unable to come out and just be himself. So when he gained the courage to stand up to his dad when the bastard had the audacity to show up at Xochi’s house, I cheered internally. So hard. And Julian stood up to his queerphobic teammates in the end too. That was fucking amazing. He proved he was a better player and shut them up too. Hell fucking yeah!

- Xochi and Guelo deserve an award for best family ever. It’s hard to cut out the father but the way they give their all for Jules is awe-inspiring. Xo was there for him after he’d gotten disowned and she became his legal guardian and did all she could to make sure he got the help he needed (financial aid, counseling, a house to live in). And Guelo being genuinely excited to meet Mat was just so cute! I’m glad they clarified that he’s the maternal grandpa because otherwise, dad would not make any sense to me. But ugh, the two of them in Jules’s corner proved to be one of the best parts of this book! They care so much about him and are so protective and I adore them.

- I usually get sick and tired of seeing characters get anxious and depressed. Probably because it’s like looking in a mirror, it hits way too close to home. But Julian’s anxiety makes sense. Given his upbringing and the abuse he endured from his father, it makes sense why he entered fight/flight/freeze mode when something happens. And then there was all the anxiety surrounding college too. He didn’t get into his dream school UCLA or his backup USC, but he got into Loyola Marymount which is a private college and expensive. It’s in LA and that meant he could be in the city he dreamed of and be with Mat too. But UT was offering him a full ride and his dad gave him an ultimatum concerning going there, a top school. Julian’s fears make sense. And I love that Mat never pressured him to go to California if UT was a more sensible option. Also, the moment that Ram saw Julian struggling and having been kicked out because he’s gay, the financial advisor was ready to do whatever he could to get Julian in and I loved that. That is a good man who was likely sympathetic to Julian’s plight as, probably, a fellow queer.

- The comedy in this book is so on point! my favorite joke by far though, is the four Cs for good gay sex that Ruben came up with: “Consent. Cleanliness. Communication. Condoms.” And when he came up with new Cs consisting of mostly gay icons (”CHER. CELINE. CHRISSY. CHRIST.”) when Xochi almost caught him saying it to their brothers killed me. And ugh, all the moments when Julian was chilling with his friends and joking around. Jordan’s bi-curious jokes were honestly a hit for me.

Dislikes:

- Not much to complain about in all honesty? Like, after Late To The Party, this book knew how to use social media. By which I do mean that the kids knew how to use it. For music, for stanning celebrities, for accidentally and drunkenly outing yourself. Maybe social media was used too much but it’s realistic. It’s real. Maybe my biggest complaint is that Itzel was initially unsupportive of Jules dating someone he met online. Lots of people do it. I get that she was protective of him (considering all he’s gone through) but he didn’t deserve to be yelled at. He was happy and she momentarily ruined it for him. And they even stopped talking for a bit. But to me, that wasn’t really fair of her because it’s modern day. Almost no one starts dating people they haven’t met online first.

- I don’t mind the interspersed Spanish sprinkled throughout the book but I do somewhat wish there was maybe a dictionary at the end of the book because, while most of it can be translated with Google, there was also a lot of slang that was untranslatable. Again, not really an issue. It’s not the author’s fault I don’t know Spanish.

- Fuck Julian’s dad. That’s all I’ll say about him.

- Where did the prankster get a dildo from? No seriously, those things are fucking expensive. Why did some random kid decide to get one just to torment the one out gay kid in school? 

- Also, what’s Piña’s deal, anyway? He gives off major bi vibes but barely aware of it because of compulsory heterosexuality. Well, hopefully he figures himself out in college when he experiments. I have no doubt he would.

- The last two aren’t complaints by the way, just questions that don’t really need answers, I’m just curious.

#Booklr #Booksbooksbooks #Book Blog #Book Review #Book Recs #Fifteen Hundred Miles From The Sun #Jonny Garza Villa #LGBTQ #Queer Books #Queer Lit #Queer Representation

[lucernocruz]

LUCERO “LU” CRUZ GONZALEZ has been accepted to participate ! they are a TWENTY TWO year old all the way from BARCELONA, SPAIN. SHE is currently studying MUSIC at the interchange. ( peyton, 24, they/them, lizeth selene )

about

if there’s one word lu heard for herself growing up by her well meaning albeit overbearing parents it was gifted. gallerist matías and artist camila (can you guess how they met?) ensured that their youngest daughter would go to all the best catholic schools, participate in the best music program, and be the best child a family could ask for.

classically trained on three instruments by the time she’s fifteen, her parents make her focus on where they believe her talent truly lies with the harp. any other interests were met with apathy because she wanted to be a prodigy, didn’t she? and that meant making sacrifices. lu never minded after being raised in a household surrounded by nothing but love and support she knew they just wanted what was best for her.

the same graces lucero received in her childhood were not as generously handed to her older sister, itzel. the moment lu’s dark brown locks made their debut to the world she became the favorite child while itzel had to fight tooth and nail for their parents’ attention. it eventually leads to acting out. “thank god you’re nothing like your sister” camila tells lu at another family dinner itzel decided to miss. for a long time, lu shared her parent’s sentiments. they were good people so why did itzel have to be so disrespectful?

for a very long time this causes a rift between the two. any of lu’s achievements would immediately be overshadowed by whatever trouble her sister was stirring up. it made her resentful because it always had to be about itzel. lu has an important recital coming up, itzel crashes one of the family cars. lu plays at one of her father’s gallery openings and itzel shows up drunk. lu wins an award and itzel breaks it to be spiteful. it never ended.

it’s easy to get accustomed to and even feel entitled to affection when it was always readily available to you. when lu expresses interest in picking up a second instrument again, this time something more contemporary, her parents are quick to shut her down after they find out. they guilt her, ask her why she was taking all the hard work they put into her classical music career for granted, and lu feels shame for maybe the first time. she knew that they were strict but she always thought she was the exception.

lucero has her first fight with her parents when she was out with friends celebrating her birthday instead of staying home to practice for an upcoming show. their sudden coldness baffles lu and the things they say to guilt her only make her feel worse. it’s the first time she thinks critically about their family dynamic and she realizes that even as the golden child there is always a risk of her parents withdrawing their affection.

she tries to talk about her revelation with itzel, expecting mutual understanding that they were both victims of their environment. it does not end well. itzel, angry that her perfect younger sister was just now deciding to show her some sympathy, lashes out on lu. she calls lu an idiot and by next week she would go crawling back to their parents like she always did because she’s incapable of thinking about anyone other than herself. it stung and was hurtfully specific. rather than following through with her attempt to make amends, lu tells itzel that she’ll never get the approval she so desperately wants. she’ll be pathetic forever.

it was the last time they spoke since lu was accepted for a spot for interchange’s higher education program. she still remembers itzel’s biting words before she boarded the plane “don’t come back home”. she didn’t mean it. right? matías and camila are worried that lu will be too distracted to focus on her musical abilities. she assures them nothing else will keep her from jeopardizing her future anymore. she’s never had the chance to see the world and she assures them the experience will only help her grow as a musician.

the interchange program is really the first time lu doesn’t have her family around to watch her and in many ways she’s already flourishing. she has tattoos and piercings that are skillfully hidden before her weekly zoom calls with her parents, she’s learning to compose music so she can create her own songs, and she even finally has started to look more into playing other instruments (with a particular interest in the drums currently) even if they are a “waste of her time.”

extras

lu has a very “fake it til you make it” personality. being in an environment where negative emotions weren’t talked about or acknowledged she often acts more confident than she lets on. it can make her appear aloof or uppity but it’s just how she was conditioned to act.

vegan icon.

while she was born in spain, her parents are originally from mexico city. she usually visits other family there during the summer and feels closely connected to her culture.

her sexuality is ?????? ?? ? she doesn’t know. she just wants to kiss pretty girls and nonbinary people and maybe one man if he doesn’t suck. 

she’s never been the type to have many friends at home. she claims she’s fine being a bit of a loner but does yearn for close relationships and connection. 

has a very eclectic music taste. she’ll go from classical pieces to old punk rock bands from the 80s to 2010s indie pop. 

her sun sign is gemini but don’t be fooled because her rising and moon are both in pisces. her chart is very water dominant.

she’s not as cool as she looks. lu has a secret love for cheesy movies. romcoms, shitty lifetime movies, over the top dramas, you name it she can’t get enough. she knows they’re objectively bad but she can’t get enough okay!

an official list of the instruments lu can play are: harp (her main/what she’s working on in school for), piano, cello, guitar, and she’s picking up the drums right now.

connections

i prefer chemistry for any dynamic above all else so feel free to hit the like button and i will come to you! or we can exchange discords if that’s easier <3

some generic ideas to get the ball rolling though: friends, best friends, a squad, for the love of god give this girl a social circle, hook ups, amicable exes, MESSY exes, toxic relationships, good influence, bad influence, would LOVE some jam buddies, study buddies, shared trauma experiences, someone who will always try to one up her (and vice versa), a confidante, hateship, maybe a character who reminds her of her sister, anything and everything!

#( *ooc. ) #( *intro. ) #no proofreading just vibes #let's goooooo

[brax-was-here]

Scarlet Briar: The Seeds of Life Chapter 9

Written by: Braxxus

Chapter 9: Mysteries Are Meant to Be Solved

Sometimes it’s the little things that help us

Nafiona stood on a ridge overlooking the landscape that lay before her. The jungle was bathed in a haze of gold as she stared at the gleaming palace that lay far in the distance. They had stopped to rest for a moment near a set of stone ruins.

“What do you think this monolith is?” she heard Caelan ask behind her.

“I don’t know, but you would think the pact would figure out a way to shut off this annoying buzz in the air.” Another courtier complained.

“Ordhram…” Nafiona called for her subordinate.

“Yes, m’lady?” He walked up beside her.

“What do you make of that?” She gestured to the structure in the distance.

“It looks like…maybe a castle, m’lady.” He responded. “Seemingly made of gold by the way the jungle surrounded glows.”

“That is my thoughts as well. Do you think that which we seek would be there?” she questioned, her eyes narrowing.

Ordram pondered a moment. “It’s possible, m’lady. But would the jungle dragon build such a place?”

“Not in the short span he was awake.” She remarked.

“What is that!?” she heard one of her courtiers yell. She turned quickly with weapons drawn to see an ethereal figure clad in ornate gold armor floating before them.

“You are the same as the one who watches over the egg.” It spoke.

“The egg?” Nafiona muttered, looking at Ordhram, who returned her look just as confused. They turned their gaze back to the ethereal being.

“What are you?” Ordhram asked sternly, brandishing his sword.

“I am Dansha. Exalted protector of Tarir and the lands around it.” It replied, its voice stern.

“Dansha?” Caelan asked.

“What is Exalted?” Nafiona asked.

“We are the protectors and caretakers of Tarir and Glint’s legacy.”

“Glint’s legacy?” Nafiona gave the creature a curious look. “You mean the crystal dragon?”

“The scion of Kralkatorrik. She constructed the palace of Tarir and entrusted us to safeguard her legacy from those that would destroy it.”

“So, it’s an egg, not a seed?” Nafiona asked thoughtfully.

“That is correct.” Dansha answered. Nafiona looked at Ordhram with a slight mischievous smirk.

“Can we see the egg?” she asked turning back to the Exalted.

“You cannot. Only those deemed worthy to be the eggs protector may see the egg.”

“Oh? So how do we become its protector?” she smiled.

“A champion has already been chosen. No other may be chosen.” The Exalted replied.

“A champion? Interesting.” Nafiona pondered a moment. She looked at Ordhram. “What do you think?”

Ordhram looked at the palace in the distance. “It may be beneficial to our search to visit this place.” He suggested.

“Agreed.” She looked back at the floating entity. “Dansha? May we visit Tarir?”

“Of course. You will be allowed to see the city proper.”  He turned and started floating down the pathway before them.

Nafiona smiled at Ordhram. “Let’s go, shall we?”

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orla could see the buildings of Camp Resolve coming into view as the caravan lumbered across the sand. The sun beat down upon her as she sat chained to the carriage. She pondered what was in store for her once they arrived at the camp. Reaching the gate, the caravan stopped before entering. A group of Pact guards walked along the carriages checking the supply boxes.

“What do we have here?” a guard asked as he climbed over the railing into the carriage holding Orla.

“What does it look like? I’m being held prisoner against my will.” She snapped at him.

“A troublemaker that apparently stole some armor and weapons or something like that.” the Priory member answered from outside the carriage.

“I see. And I guess we’re to keep her here then. Another sylvari to add to the cave.”

“The cave?” she asked.

“Yep. Can’t seem to trust your kind after what you all did during the fighting. Apparently, we have to keep an eye on you until you’re deemed trustworthy again.” The guard said to her as he climbed back down. 

“Alright. Bring em in!” a voice shouted from the gate. The carriage lurched forward again. Orla watched the gate slowly pass by as the caravan entered the camp. The caravan was brought to rest in front of a larger storage building. Pact members started climbing over the carriages, removing supply boxes and materials. The Priory scholar that had always been with her carriage, climbed aboard and unlocked Orlas chains from the floor of the carriage.

“Let’s go.” She ordered. Another guard helped Orla down from the carriage.

“Take her in. We’ll get someone to take her to the cave after we get everything unloaded.”

“This cave doesn’t sound like a pleasant place.” Orla spouted as they walked her into the building.

“You’ll be at home with the rest of you sylvari.” The guard responded. She sat Orla in a chair and shackled her to a building support. “I would tell you to wait here, but I don’t think you’re going anywhere.” The guard said to her as she turned towards the door.

“Oh, you are just so funny.” Orla replied snidely. She tugged at the shackles, sighing deeply. She looked around the room full of supply crates, various metal items and random parts.

“The prisoner is in here?” someone asked from outside.

“Yes. I have her shackled to the building.” The guard responded, stepping aside. Another pact soldier, a tall dark-skinned human, entered and looked at Orla.

“A thief, huh. You don’t look like a thief. You look more like…a weed that grew in the street. Put her with the others.”

Orla’s face turned sour. “A weed. I’ll show you just how deadly a weed can be.” She muttered. The guard undid her shackles once again and walked her out.

“Scholar, or you, Whispers agent. Either of you.” The dark-skinned human shouted at a nearby group that were sorting through some of the boxes.

“Yes?” one of them turned to him.

“I want you two to accompany this soldier and her prisoner to the cave. Be quick about it. We have work to do.”

The priory member sighed. “Yes, sir.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of these arrogant Vigil ordering us around.” The whispers agent spoke quietly.

“Me too.” The scholar replied as they moved towards the approaching guard with Orla in tow.

“Let’s go.” The scholar and whispers agent fell in behind Orla as the group moved to the entrance of the camp. They approached a large stone in a cliffside that Orla squinted at.

“That’s out of place.” She thought to herself. Another whispers agent appeared out of nowhere and bowed to the group. He turned and tapped on the boulder before disappearing from sight. The giant stone rolled slowly to the side, revealing a cave entrance.

“Take her inside with the others.” The scholar ordered. The agent grabbed Orla’s chains and walked her inside. The cave passage was dimly lit as they passed through. It opened into a large area littered with cots and other makeshift furniture. There were various sylvari about, some sleeping, others talking amongst themselves. Some looked towards Orla.

“Nightmare Court.” One spoke nearby. A hushed murmur went through the room.  

“What is going on here? What are you doing to them!?” Orla turned to the agent. “You keep us trapped here!?” Another agent appeared, holding a sword to Orla’s throat. She glared at him, taken aback that it was a sylvari.

“This is only temporary, courtier. We are only here until the pact is sure we are truly free from the dragon’s influence.” One of the sylvari spoke up. “We are not trapped here.”

“Hands up.” The agent said sternly. Orla put her hands up in front of her. The agent in one swift movement quickly unlatched the locking device keeping her hands shackled. The other did the same to the shackles around her ankles.

“Be warned.” The sylvari agent spoke quietly. “We are watching.” The two agents disappeared from site. Orla turned to look at the group before her.

“Come, courtier. In this room we are all the same. Come eat with us.”

Orla looked perturbed at the sylvari. “I won’t be staying here.” She muttered before resigning herself to join the others.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The jungle looks so pretty here!” Liathlas excitedly exclaimed as the trio moved through the brush. The entire area was bathed in a golden glow.

“The energy radiating from Tarir gives the jungle around it an aura.” Malyck explained. “But still, we should be cautious.”

“If the Nightmare Court came this way, do you think they would try to enter?” Liathlas asked, looking at Ceara.

“I was just wondering the same thing.” Ceara looked thoughtfully. “Malyck, what else is kept in Tarir other than the supposed dragon egg?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never entered. The few times I got close the doors were always sealed. Guarded by beings of energy.”

“Energy? What do you mean?”

“Energy. I’m not sure how to explain it. They float but have a head and arms like we do clad in a gold armor.”

“Interesting. I’d like to see these beings.”

Malyck suddenly raised his hand for them to stop. “Down! Now!” He whispered dropping to the dirt. They followed suit.

“What’s going on?” Ceara asked when suddenly an arrow penetrated the ground beside her.

“Get under cover now!” Malyck ordered. The group rushed through the brush as arrows flew passed them. They ducked behind some fallen trees and rocks, crouching down out of view. Malyck unholstered his pistol as Ceara unslung her rifle.

“What’s out there?” Ceara asked quietly.

“I’m not sure.” Malyck replied.

Ceara turned to Liathlas. “Stealth us, and let’s try to find out.” Liathlas cast a stealth field around them. The trio peered out from behind their cover, looking over the jungle.

“I’m not seeing anything.” Liathlas whispered.

“Me either, not yet anyway.” Ceara spoke.

“They are there. Whatever they are they are waiting for us to move.”

“What do we do?” Ceara asked as the stealth field faded.

“This will-“ Malyck suddenly turned a fired his pistol, striking a dark colored Itzel in the head, sending it falling backwards. Another landed on the log in front of them, brandishing two daggers. Ceara shot it with her rifle, knocking it back. Arrows started hitting the foliage and rocks near them.

“Go! Now!” The group started rushing through the brush. Their escape cut short as Malyck was tackled by another Itzel. They rolled across the ground, the Itzel pinning him down when they came to rest. Ceara turned to see the Itzel with its blade in the air about to strike Malyck when she charged it, knocking it to the ground. It rolled to its feet. Malyck fired a shot at it, hitting it in the torso as Ceara flipped her rifle around and swung it as hard as she could, hitting it in its chin knocking it backwards.

“Why didn’t you shoot it!?” Malyck asked angrily.

“Because I only have a couple rounds left and we might need them!”

Liathlas teleported backwards as another attacked her with its blade. She conjoured two illusions of herself that attacked the oncoming Itzel. It leapt at one, passing through it. Quickly it turned, only to be locked in place as a field of energy appeared at its feet. Her clones continued their attack as the trio heard the sound of a horn echo through the treetops. More Itzel dropped from the trees surrounding them.

“Well, this is…this doesn’t look good for our team.” Ceara said matter of factly.

“What do you want with us?” Malyck hollered.

“You are trespassing on our territory.” One of the Itzel remarked.

“We are just passing through. Nothing more.” He added.

“Then you wi-“ The Itzel was cut short as a spear pierced the back of his head.

“You will not harm these people this day.” The group turned to see a group of large froglike creatures moving quickly through the brush towards them. Some brandishing spears, some with bows, and others with giant Warhammer-like weapons.

“Nuhock!” Malyck shouted. He turned and shot one of the Itzel.

“This is our land, Nuhock!” One of the Itzel shouted. Arrows launched as some of the Itzel turned to attack the lumbering group. Ceara dodged a spear as one Itzel lunged at her, smashing the butt of her rifle against the side of its head. It screamed in rage as it relentlessly attacked her, a flurry of melee attacks putting her on the defensive.  The Itzel slashed at her, the tip of spear slicing her abdomen. She felt her blood start to run as an arrow from a nuhock bow pierced the Itzel’s knee, causing it to lurch in pain. With a mighty swing of her rifle, she hit the creature in the jaw, knocking it away.

Liathlas created as many clones of herself as she could. So many that even her allies couldn’t tell which was the real mesmer. They attacked every Itzel within sight as she placed fields at their feet, looking them in place. One Itzel appeared out of nowhere behind her, grabbing her by the neck. It attempted to drive its dagger into her throat, but she teleported out of its grasp.

“Not this time!” She hollered. The Itzel turned to her voice, just in time to see the end of her staff meeting one of its large eyes. She sent a charge of eldritch energy through the staff, paralyzing the creature as it yelped in pain, before it dropped to the ground. She turned her attention to Ceara, who she could see was bleeding from her stomach.

“Cea-“ Liathlas we cut off by a searing pain in her back as she felt a sharp blade plunge into it.

Malyck took aim at the Itzel that had just driven its dagger between Liathlas shoulders. Pulling the trigger, he shot the creature in the back of the head, causing it to fall forward knocking Liathlas to the ground.

“Your friends need to learn better fighting techniques.” One of the giant frog creatures rumbled as he swung his giant hammer, smashing an Itzel to the ground.

“Not the proper time for this discussion.” Malyck growled as he dodged a spear being thrust by one of the Itzel. He grabbed the haft and used the frog creature’s momentum to pull it towards him. He shoved his pistol in its large mouth and pulled the trigger, sending the back of the Itzel’s head flying in a spray of blood and brain matter.

“Brothers, sisters. We must retreat!” One of the Itzel shouted. A horn echoed once again through the treetops and the remaining Itzel leapt away, disappearing from sight. The giant nuhock formed a ring around the sylvari.

“We must tend to your friends.” One of the nuhock spoke. “Search the trees for the bracium moss.” He ordered the others. A few of the massive creatures broke from the circle and started searching through the brush, pulling up clumps of moss and dirt. They returned briefly. Gingerly, the giant dressed Ceara’s wound placing the moss across the cut, and firmly holding it in place. Ceara winced at the stinging pain she felt as the plant was pressed into her abdomen.

“Bite down on this.” Another nuhock spoke softly to Liathlas as it held a small branch in front of her. “It will help as we remove the blade from your body.” Liathlas bit down and grimaced. She felt the nuhock grab the hilt of the dagger.

“Now.” It spoke. It pulled the knife out quickly. Liathlas yelped as the pain shot through her body. She spit the branch out as she felt her own blood running down her back. She gasped as she felt the moss being applied to her wound, the sharp stinging pain as it was being held firmly to her back. “You must rest and let the moss do its work.” The nuhock spoke.

“We don’t have time.” Ceara winced again at the sting in her stomach. “We have to get south…as fast as possible.”

“I do not think you are in any condition to travel, lest your wounds will not heal.”

“Give it time to do its work.” Malyck said to her.

“But Nafiona…she-“

“We’ll get there.” Malyck cut her off. “The nuhock ha-

“Well, that’s rather rude.” She spouted. He glared at her, drawing a deep breath.

“As I was saying, the nuhock have ways of getting through the jungle much faster than over land.”

“And how do we do that?”

“The jungle provides.” One of the nuhock spoke, as it dressed Liathlas wound.

“We have burrows through the jungle floor that can take us out of harm’s way.” Said another.

“Well, that would have been handy to have sooner!” Ceara spat.

“Ceara…shush.” Liathlas spoke quietly. “They are trying to help.”

“Can you take us south, to the dragon’s domain?” Malyck asked them.

The nuhock fell silent, looking at each other. “We have burrows that lead to the south, yes.”

“Excellent!” Liathlas whooped. Her excitement was cut short when she looked at Ceara. Ceara’s face was turned away, looking at the ground. A solemn look had befallen her.

Ceara’s chest had tightened at the thought of travelling into Mordremoth’s lair. Her heart started racing as memories floated through her mind. She breathed in deep as she closed her eyes.

“Focus.” She whispered to herself. “Calm yourself.” She felt a hand gently grab her arm. She slowly opened her eyes to see Liathlas looking at her.

“We’re here.” She said softly.

“I can do this.” Ceara whispered. She drew a long breath. She looked at the nuhock standing nearby. “Let’s go.”

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This palace is absolutely stunning!” one of Nafiona’s courtiers voice shrieked as they entered through a giant set of golden doors.

“This city represents Glint’s majesty. Used to protect the artifacts that will help keep Tyria’s future peaceful and protected from the dragons.” Dansha spoke as he glided through the hallways.

“How did this place survive Mordremoth?” Another courtier asked.

“The battles were fierce and took a toll on us all. Some of us had to sacrifice ourselves to keep the city safe. Thanks to our allies, we were able to fend off the dragon’s minions during the war.”

“You mean the Pact.” Nafiona stated.

“Correct.” Dansha led them to an open chamber that glistened as the sun shone through an opening in the ceiling. Some members of the Durmond Priory were in the room, studying various etchings and markings on the walls.

“I will admit that this palace is very impressive, indeed.” Nafiona remarked, watching the Priory members. “May we see more of this place?”

“Of course.” The Exalted started floating towards a hallway.

“So, what is Glint’s legacy exactly.” Nafiona questioned.

“The preservation of Tyria and its people by replacing the elder dragons with beings that are less volatile, but still capable of maintaining the balance of magic in Tyria.”

“Less volatile beings?”

“Correct.”

“And what would these beings be?”

“Her scions.”

“Scions? You mean her children?”

“Yes.”

“That would explain the talk of the dragon egg.” Nafiona looked at Ordhram, who returned her gaze.

“The egg is one half of the most important part of Glint’s legacy.” Dansha continued.

“And what is the other half?”

“Her first scion. The dragon known as Vlast. He unfortunately has disappeared.”

“Vlast?” Nafiona pondered on the name. “I do not know that one.” She muttered. The group entered into a large circular courtyard that was open to the jungle above. It was filled with other Exalted. Some standing guard, others going about their way. There were Pact members also in the area, studying artifacts and mulling over papers.  

“This is the central courtyard of the city. Duty calls and I must leave you. You can access much of the city from this area. Please feel free to explore.” Dansha disappeared in a small flash of light.

“Well, he was rather pleasant.” Nafiona turned to Ordhram. “What do you think?”

“This dragon egg seems to be particularly important.” He remarked. “Are you thinking of trying to take it?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” Nafiona whispered, looking over the courtyard. “We would have to find where they are keeping it. It may take some time.” She paused a moment, looking over her group. “Not to mention we would be severely outmatched here if things went wrong. We don’t know what these beings are capable of, nor how many of the Pact are here. Plus, this “champion” whoever that might be.”

“And the guardian of the egg, whoever it may be.” Ordhram added. Nafiona nodded in agreement. “M’lady, it might be best to save this for another day and we focus on your prize. And there is still the possibility of Scarlet Briar out there.”

Nafiona sneered at the thought. “I’m sure the Pact has already dealt with her.” Her voice sour. “Ordhram, do you think they might have some knowledge of the seed here?”

“If this was built for this ‘Glint’s Legacy’, I would not think there is anything of Mordremoth here.”

Nafiona nodded her agreement.

“M’lady, do we have time to explore?” one of her courtiers asked.

“Perhaps another day. We should be off. Time is of the essence.” She called to her courtiers.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Not exactly the most pleasant way to travel.” Ceara muttered as she splashed water on her face. While using the nuhock burrow was somewhat faster, being in an enclosed space with a group of giant frog-like creatures did not do wonders for her nose.

“It could have been worse.” Liathlas noted. Liathlas stepped into the small spring near the burrow they had exited. “Eeesh!” she yelped.

“It is a little cold but refreshing none the less.” Ceara stepped in as well. “How’s your wound?” she asked as she slowly sat, the cool spring water was relieving against the wound in her stomach.  

“It’s sore. If we get attacked again, I don’t know how I will be able to fight. Whatever this moss is, does seem to be helping.”

“Indeed. It’s something I’ll have to take back with me and study sometime.” Ceara washed the water over her shoulders slowly as she stared at her reflection. Her thoughts drifted to the visions she had experienced.

“Ceara?” Liathlas asked. Ceara snapped back to the present.

“Yes?”

“You were somewhere else, weren’t you?”

“I was.”

“What are we going to do when we find the seed?”

Ceara thought for a moment. Various scenarios played out through her mind. “Take it home to study? Take it to the Grove? Plant it somewhere so I can have my own Pale Tree?”

“I don’t know.” She finally answered. Liathlas was taken aback at the response.

“You don’t know?” Liathlas giggled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you are usually five steps ahead everyone else with alternate plans ready just in case.”

“Well, it’s not every day that something like this happens. I came here looking for something, and now I’m looking for something else.”

“And what were you looking for?”

“The possible existence of another Pale Tree…and…him.” Ceara turned her gaze to Malyck, who was conferring with the nuhock nearby.

“Even with the jungle dragon perished, its domain is a dangerous place. Still filled with mordrem.” The nuhock told Malyck. “Our burrows can take you as far as the ruins, but you will have to travel on foot the rest of the journey.”

“We understand. We’ll have to take the risk to retrieve what we are after.”

“The sun sets. We should camp here for the night. This spring and the cave are a secluded place. The mordrem do not come here.”

Malyck nodded his agreement. “Thank you for your help.”

“The jungle provides.”

Malyck turned and walked to the edge of the water. He knelt down and looked at the two women facing him. “We’re camping in the cave tonight. The nuhock say this place is secluded enough that the mordrem never come here.”

“That’s a relief but what about food? Those pact food bricks are rather tasteless.” Ceara asked.

“I do agree with that.” Malyck replied. “A real meal would be nice to have.”

“What do the nuhock eat?” Liathlas inquired.

Malyck slowly turned to look at the giants nearby, his stomach turned at the thought of eating large insects. “I think…” He turned back to her. “I think we’re better off with the food bars.”

“Ugh.” Ceara’s face turned sour. “I was hoping for something real.” She sighed lightly as she her thoughts drifted to the vision again. She glanced at Liathlas, who was washing herself. “Do you think any other trees exist?”

Liathlas stopped for a moment, pondering the thought. “It’s possible, I believe. The jungle is vast. There could be many trees like mother. Or…she could be the only one. But you said you had a vision about a seed. If it were planted, it could grow into another tree.” Liathlas looked at Malyck. He was staring at the water; a somber look crossed his face.

“We must find it before the Nightmare Court does.” Malyck spoke softly, rising to his feet. Ceara and Liathlas nodded in agreement. “We have a long trek ahead of us tomorrow. The dragon’s domain will be very hostile towards us.” He stood, taking a deep breath, before heading towards the cave entrance.

“He told me what happened to his tree and his people.” Liathlas spoke quietly as Ceara watched Malyck disappear into the cave. “He said Mordremoth killed his tree and turned his people into mordrem. Now he searches the jungle for anyone that may have escaped, hoping to gather them and take them to the Grove.”

“Because of me.” Ceara blamed herself silently, her thoughts turning to the recent past.

The duo finished bathing. “He is very honor driven, it seems.” Liathlas mentioned as she climbed out of the spring.

“Just like Amaranda described.” Ceara replied as she stood. “She called him an enigma, a sylvari without a Dream.” She climbed out of the water. “Though the mystery around him seems to be vanishing.”

“Mysteries are meant to be solved, are they not?”

A slight smile grew across Ceara’s face. “Most of them, yes. But we should be cautious with some. They might not give us an answer we wish to find.” She spoke solemnly.

Liathlas knew what Ceara was talking about. She could tell by the tone of her voice, her smile betrayed her actual thoughts. They gathered their things and set off for the cave.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Sitting on a stone slab by herself, Orla glared at the other sylvari in the cave. Her thoughts drifted over the events of the past few days.

“I should have just killed that Amaranda.” She thought, her bottom lip twisted in disgust. “I wouldn’t be stuck here. Then I could have just easily made my way back to the arbor.” Her thoughts were cut short by the approach of a stealthed individual.

“If you’ve come to kill me, you’re going to have a tough time of it.” Her voice raised. A sylvari in Whispers garb appeared beside her.

“I’m not here to kill you, courtier.” It knelt down a few feet in front of her. “What drew you to nightmare?”

Orla smirked. “Heh, why do you ask, dreamer? Do you feel the pull?”

“I do not. But I sometimes wonder what causes some of our kindred to take such a dark path in life?”

“Dreamer, you are so naïve. The Pale Tree has blinded you to the truth, and you refuse to see it.”

“Is it because you want to be ‘free’? Free from the Pale Tree?”

“Free from the words of a long dead centaur. Why should we be bound by some laws meant to keep us in line? Nightmare has shown me the way out. Has given me a way out. I don’t follow the words of some stone tablet.”

“By joining a group led by Faolain and Cadryn? To be their pawns in their war against the Pale Mother?”

“They would lead us to freedom.”

“Would they?”

“Your days are ending, Dreamer. We will prevail. You will all see the truth.”

“I can see that you are lost.” He stood. “One day, I hope you find your way.” He disappeared from sight.

“Ugh, I need to get out of here. These dreamers are going to make me vomit.” Orla muttered to herself. She scanned around the dimly lit cavern.  “The washroom has a hole in the ceiling.” She thought to herself. Which I’m sure it’s guarded by those Whispers. But If I’m quick enough…I might be able to outpace them.” She quickly moved to the wash area. A yellow skinned sylvari was rinsing himself off in the spring water. He paused noticing her.

“Uh, nice evening for a wash.” He haphazardly spoke.

“Silence, dreamer.” She leapt in the spring after him.

“What are you doing!?” he yelped.

“Getting out of this cave and away from your ilk.” She quickly started climbing the rock face, the cold water flowing over her, giving her a chill. “Almost there.” She thought to herself. Reaching the opening in the ceiling, she peeked out. The light cool breeze in the evening air blew past her. Looking around, she saw no one, but she knew she was not alone.

“I know you’re here, Whispers. You won’t stop me.” She spoke aloud. Noticing movement among the rocks, she quickly darted away. An agent appeared in front of her, who she shoulder charged, causing both of them to tumble into the sand. Orla quickly got to her feet as she searched for the agent. Another appeared behind her, knocking her legs out from under her.

“Cease this senselessness now and return to the cave and we won’t be forced to harm you. The asuran agent said as he stood a few feet from her.

“I’m not staying here. You can’t keep me here.”

“Then you leave us no cho-“ Orla charged the asura, who disappeared as she ran by. She kept running. She quickly reached the edge of the cliff face overlooking Camp Resolve.

“You’re trapped. Return to the cave immediately.” She heard a voice behind her.

“Heh. Maybe another day, Whispers.” She leapt over the edge.

“Is she crazy!?” another agent gasped.

Running to the edge, they could see Orla making her way down the cliffwall.

“How does she…Do you think…”

“A former agent turned courtier?” Another asked watching as she leapt to a small pillar. She turned and waved at them before disappearing from sight.

#Guild Wars 2 #GW2 #Scarlet Briar #Seeds of Life #AU Ceara

[agoracactus]

Pt. 9 - “Where have you been?”

cant believe this took me forever to finish....

Pt.1  Pt.2  Pt.3  Pt.4  Pt.4.5  Pt.5  Pt.6  Pt.7  Pt.8

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x reader

Word Count: 4088

Warnings: the standards

Tag list: @theojuicee @ayamenimthiriel @imthesnowinthedark

§

There was a castle in the middle of the woods.

That being said, it was a small one, more of a keep. With two towers- one shorter than the other and was stretching out from the side of the wall.

No one knew how long the castle has been there. But it was there. And for generations, the people from the nearby region all knew about the tale of the master of the castle, and how he would make any wish come true, to those who find their way to his door. That’s if, one can pay the price.

§

“Master Itzel.”

At the top of the lower tower, a bed was set at the center of the room. Heavy curtains were hanging from the top, blocking all the light from coming in. Lanterns with intricate designs were hanged on the corners of the room, giving out faint warm light. 

The source of the voice put out the dying lanterns, then went straight for the curtains.

Bright beams shined into the room, the bump in bed groaned, shifted and buried deeper into the pillow.

“Itzel, wake up.”

“...Shut up...I’m sleeping...” “The sun is up, you need to get up now.” “...No I don’t...”

The figure moved to stand next to the bed, “Y/n.”

“...Whaaaat?” you pushed yourself up in frustration. “Breakfast is ready, and it’s getting cold. Then you will complain about your cold food. And that’s absurd.” the man said in an indifferent tone. He has his back to the window, face completely in the dark, but you could still see those pair of crimson-color eyes, like they were faintly glowing.

 “...Fuck you Elye...” you whined, slowly crawling out of bed. “Good morning to you too.” Eyle continued on to open the rest of the curtains.

You went down the stairs, followed the smell of bacon to the dining room.

A man was already at the table, sipping on a cup of tea, with a red-covered book in another hand. He had one of those faces that intimidates people, like how you would imagine what a powerful and cold-blooded mob boss would look like --- that stern look immediately melted into a warm smile when he noticed your presence.

“Well, someone decided to join us for breakfast this morning!” he got this velvety voice that reminded you of honey. “...Good morning, Helvit'tar.” you said with a yawn.

Helvit'tar quickly put down his book, stood up, and pulled out the chair for you. You gave him a smile, sat down and helped yourself to some creamy eggs. Eyle was already next to you pouring hot tea into a cup.

“So, you are leaving today? To see Crewe?” Helvit'tar sat back down, long boney fingers picked up the cup. “I thought there’s no job-talk at the table?” you remembered the annoying work you had to do. “Excuse my insolence, but you are going to be gone for weeks!” Helvit'tar gave you a puppy-eye. You took a glace towards Eyle, who was sitting down across you--- a faint frown showed on his usually emotionless face. You suppressed a giggle, “I will send you messages, ok? Old man?” “Yes you would, one every day.” Helvit'tar nodded. “Ha, no promises.” you chuckeled.

§

You had no idea how long you had been here. Time was exceptionally slow in this part of the woods, especially in the castle. But you loved it there. Life was good.

It was pure chance that the master and his servant found you. You were covered in blood with hollow eyes in the basement of a tower flooded with death somewhere in a forest. It was also one of the very few memories you could retrieve from your mind, since everything else was pretty much lost in the dark.

You didn’t have much when you joined the family. A bag full of bullets, three firearms, the memory of you standing in a pool of crimson with body pieces scattering everywhere, Helvit'tar’s shocked face. And the mark on your right forearm, the proof of trading with the demons.

It took you months before your own name came back to you--- before that you were told that you were Itzel, Helvit'tar’s daughter. It seemed like Helvit'tar treated you as a surrogate of his daughter, but you didn’t mind. They took you in, treated you like family, life was good.

No need to dwell on your lost past life.

§

“What’s his name again?”

Sitting in the carriage that has nice dark red velvet lined across every surface you can see, you had your back against the wall, both legs stretched out on the seat. You stared at the window across you that had silk curtains neatly tied at the side, in the shade of darker-almost-brown red.

“Crewe. Lord Crewe. And I hope you remember it when we are in the presence of him.” Eyle’s toneless voice raised from the book he was reading. “It’s not my fault that my brain can’t remember shit.” you crossed your legs, then uncross them. “We’ve met him before, on his wedding day.” “That was a long time ago!” “Six months. That was six months ago.” “Exactly. A long time ago.” you slid down a little bit so your feet were pressing right against the other side of the carriage.

“Are we there yet?” you asked, to your bellybutton. “We’ll be there in two days.” Eyle flipped a page. “Ugh...Why is it taking so long?” you slid down a bit more. “It’s 4 hours less since you asked this morning.” You threw him a vicious glare, then huffed, slid and lay down on your back with your knees bent.

You stared at the carriage ceiling, which was also lined with dark-red velvet. “When is Helvit'tar gonna fix this carriage?” “The carriage is perfectly fine.” “No it’s not. The interior design is a total disaster. I feel like I’m in my mother’s womb.” “I doubt you remember what it was like being in the womb.” Eyle flipped to the next page. “How do you know that I don’t remember?” you turned your head to look at him, but can only see his book cover. Eyle didn’t bother to answer. You pouted, turned back to stare at the ceiling again.

“Who use red everywhere anyway?” you mumbled to yourself, “It irritates people you know? It’s terrible. Whoever designed this need a good lesson in color psychology.”

You could hear the wheel crashing over some twigs and leaves, and the hoofs thumping on the ground.

“Master is working on it already.” “On what?”  you stopped tracing the golden stitch line of the seat to look at Eyle, who was still very much absorbed in his difficult reading and was deviding only a fraction of his attention to you. “A new carriage, with new designs that might suit your taste.” “He is?” “You shouldn’t be surprised. After all you are the only one who complain about the carriage.” “...I’m sure that’s not true, I can’t be the only one hating this design.” you said with a frown and a sense of guilt. “You are.” “...” you chewed on the inside of your mouth, sat up and scooched to the side and looked out the window with your hand under your chin.

Eyle closed his book. “Do you want to drive the carriage?” “...” you can see his reflection in the window, patiently waiting. “...You’d let me?” your breath fogged up the window slightly. “Jarin will supervise you, of course.” “...” You didn’t want to give in so soon.

Eyle didn’t wait for your verbal confirm, he raised his book, and gave a few tap on the ceiling with the corner. The carriage slowly came to a stop. The driver, Jarin, jumped off of his seat and waited at the door on Eyle’s side. Eyle gave him a slight nod, Jarin opened the door. You turned to look. “Just for a while, can’t let anyone see you driving the carriage with master’s seal on the side.” “Alright!” you quickly said, and jumped out of the door.

§

Spending time with Eyle sometimes gives you a sense of nostalgia, and sadness. You don’t quite understand why. He indulges you. And you’re comfortable being indulged. You don’t know where the mixed feelings come from. Sometimes you wonder if you two knew each other in another life, or did it got something to do with your past.

But most of the time you ignore it. It’s just a feeling. Feelings could be weird sometimes. It’s fine.

§

The carriage was going through the muddy road and getting near the stronghold of Lord Crewe, with the curtains down and secured so people couldn’t see in.

You were in a silver-grey cloak, with beautiful embroidery on the edges in different shades of red, secured with a deep blue sapphire brooch in the shape of Helvit'tar’s seal. On the inside was a crimson red dress with elaborate rose-gold thread embroidery, adorned with tiny pearls carved into Poppy and skulls. The dress covered most of your skin, with a high collar and long lacy sleeves. A lace mask matching the color pattern of your cloak, that can cover your whole face, was laid on your knees.

On your left thumb was a ring, with a silver skull that had a pair of twirl horns and a long sharp-pointy beak that was a bit out of portion compared to the whole head, two red gems were embedded in the eyes sockets. You were zoning out, staring at the lace mask, with your index finger slightly tapping on the pointy end of the ring skull.

“Itzel.” Eyle had the same exact out fit as you, with the lace mask already covering his face, “Put on the mask, we’re getting close.” You took a look at him, he was indistinguishable from you. The carriage is slowing down. “Do you need a minute?” Eyle asked. You shook your head, took in a deep breath and put on the mask.

§

Stepping out of the carriage, you straightened your back, eyes looking forward as Jarin helped you out--- like a nobel, prideful queen, was what you always reminded yourself. There was a ball held in the main hall, celebrating the birth of Lord Crewe’s first son. The son who was not birthed by the Lady of Crewe, but would be known as the righteous successor. You and Eyle walked side by side, following the guard to the hall.

The music and talking paused when you two entered. Eyes were all on you as you walked in sync, stopped in front of the Lord and bowed your heads slightly.

You tapped the tip of your ring on your left index finger and drew some blood. “Lord Crewe, I bare my humble blessing to your newborn.” your voice was hoarse, with a strange echo. “Master Itzel!” Crewe stood up from his seat with arms wide open, “My son will be blessed! Let it be heard!” behind him there was an empty cradle. You lowered your head just a bit more, “My lord, I came for the matter you mentioned in your letter-” “Yes yes, not now.” Crewe lowered his voice and waved his hand annoyingly, “Later.” he then raised his voice again, “Enjoy the celebration good Master! Bless my family with good health and fortune!” You rolled your eyes while you were turning and walking away. The music resumed, as you and Eyle went to the second floor of the hall to get out of sight.

Standing by the railing, you two watched people ate and drank and laughed and danced. The both of you were still drawing some attention, with your weird outfits and behavior. However, the crowd soon divert their attention to the newcomers.

You first noticed the man with the extravagant outfit, and all the shiny jewelries- not matching his puffy black beard and messy long hair. You remembered seeing him on the wedding day of Lord Crewe- or at least the style of fashion, you remembered he was related to Crewe, but you didn’t remember exactly who he was. But what caught your attention was his companion, how he wore a leather armor to a formal event, how he carried a sword on his back.

You watched as the two of them walked up to Crewe to talk, with Crewe clearly not happy with the two visitors. “Who is that?” you tilted your head slightly towards Eyle. “That’s Gauntelle, Crewe’s cousin. They are not on good terms, and it’s getting worse after Lady Dimia, Crewe’s aunt, Gauntelle’s mother, passed away.” Eyle spoke quietly. You nodded. Crewe was leaning back against his chair lazily, seemed completely uninterested in the conversation with his cousin. “And who’s that?” you nodded towards the strange man. “I don’t know. Gauntelle doesn’t usually have a bodyguard. Perhaps he’s here for the matter.”

You stared intensely, solely at the man. The man with white hair. “...That man,” you spoke slowly, “I think I knew him...” “From your past?” Eyle turned his head a little to look at you. You didn’t brake the gaze, “I don’t know, I’m not sure.” “We could go and have a talk with him, he might know something. Or someone who would know?” There was something shiny dangling from the hilt of his sword, but you couldn’t make out the details from the distance to know what it was. You shook your head, “No.” you faced away from the ball, “It’s unwise to try and take back something I threw away.”

On the bottom floor, the white hair man turned and looked around, eyes linger on the cloaked figures before turning back to the bored Lord.

§

A servant led you through the cold stone hallway to your room. As soon as the door closed behind you, you took off the mask, “What the fuck? I thought we are here to take care of his problem?” “He’s a lord, he’d do anything he wants anytime he wants.” Eyle took over your mask and set it on the nightstand. “Ugh..” you threw yourself on the soft bed with your cloak on, “I wanna go home. We really don’t have to be here pleasing that loser. We do just fine-” “Itzel,” Eyle hang his cloak by the door, “you know why we have to do this.” “...Yeah yeah I know...”you blew a raspberry, “...This is bullshit...” Eyle came up to you, sticking his hand out. You sat up, untied your cloak.

Just when you were ready to turn in for the night, a scream pierced through the hallway. You exchanged a look with Eyle, then grabbed the mask and darted out.

There were whispers echoing in the stone wall, and a woman’s trembling voice coming from the hall. You rushed towards the noise.

There were several humanoid shapes with green hue emerging from them flying around the main hall. And there was a female servant laying on the floor, with a hideous opening on her chest. The whispers grew louder, with chuckles. You heard footfalls coming from the other hallway, Lord Crewe leading a group of soldiers with burning torches rushed in. The wraiths faded out as the orange hue of the torch light the hall.

“Where? Where are they?” Crewe was panting, acted angry. More footsteps followed, Gauntelle, dressed in a fancy night gown, and his bodyguard ran up behind you. You glanced at the dangling shiny object from his drawn sword, could’ve swore that it was a gold coin.

“You!” Crewe pointed at you and Eyle, “You are here to take care of this! Do your job!” he screamed. You stared at him amusedly, “...Yes, we are here to help. But you have to tell us the details, what causes this?” you said with a low and quiet voice. “No one knows what is happening, that’s why you are here!” Crewe waved his hand in frustration, and paced back and forth in front of his ‘throne’. “They were wraiths, and quite a few of them.” the bodyguard stepped forward, still having his shiny sword out. “Gauntelle, I told you to get rid of that thing!” Crewe’s face was red down to his neck from the yelling, “Your kind is not welcomed on my land, witcher!” he spat.

The witcher snorted, “And you think these self proclaimed blood mages can solve your problem? Blood magic doesn’t exist, if it does it’s dark magic, you will never be truly free from your problem. You need a professional.” “Your kind is cursed! You could be bringing me more trouble and I’m already having enough! Leave at once or I’ll have my men remove you!” “Brother, be reasonable. Geralt here is a professional, let him take care of this.” Gauntelle opened his arms. “Shut up! You! You are enjoying this aren’t you? You want to see me go down so you could take my place! You even brought this- this abomination! Into my castle?”

You chuckled softly, “Let’s all calm down for a bit now. It’s not the time for quarrels.” you walked past the witcher, “We got some wraiths to take care of..and I think you know more than what you let on, my lord...” you slowly approached the nervous Lord. “W-what? How dare you assume anything of me? I’m the Lord of-” “-Yeah yeah whatever...” you snorted, slowly taking off your mask and leaned into his bloated pale face, whispered, “You and I both know about your little secret chamber, where you do all your cute recreations with the maids... So let’s not waste anymore of each other's time and work together hmm?”

Crewe’s face got paler, he tumbled back and sat on the ground next to his chair. You chuckled more, “...You are the one who caused all these, just admit it. It could make everything easier.” grinned widely. The great Lord’s lips trembled, he tried to say something but couldn't. You turned and sat down on his throne gracefully, crossing your legs and gently put your elbow on the arm of the chair, and your chin on your hand.

You slowly glanced across everyone who was present- couldn’t help but noticed the white hair one was staring at you as if he saw someone dead came back alive- “Well? May I have more of your cooperation my lord?” you rest your gaze back on the Lord on the ground.

Crewe quickly stood up, straightened his tunic, cleared his throat, “...You have all my men at disposal, Master Itzel.” You smiled, “Well, first of all, I don’t need these guys, they can fuck off all they want.” you waved lazily at the soldiers, “Secondly, I’ll need you to get me two of your tubes in your play room. And don’t you bullshit me and pretend I didn’t know better...I need one of your big lab tubes.” You saw his face only going paler, and responded with a more innocent smile. “G-go on! Do what she says! Damn it!” One of soldiers scrambled away.

Eyle stood quietly next to the throne with his mask still on, while you sat on the throne looking bored- specifically ignoring the gaze of the white hair one.

§

The errant boy soon returned, passed the tube to you with a shaky hand. You smiled at him, “Thank you dear, you may go now.” then handed the tubes that was about two fingers wide to Eyle. “Now my lord, I need some of your blood.” you said lazily, gave a nod towards Crewe.

“W-what?” the Lord took a few steps back away from you, “Why do you need that?” “Don’t worry, losing a few drop won’t kill you.” you rolled your eyes dramatically, “There’s a price to everything, darling. Consider this as your payment, I’m sure you will find it quite cheap.” you smirked. Eyle approached him with the tube. Crewe looked at the tube, looked at Eyle, then looked at you. “Don’t listen to her, brother! She’s an evil witch! She works with the devils!” Gauntelle said loudly. “-You do have another option, my Lord.” the witcher spoke, gaze still fixed on you, “I can take care of the wraiths, and it will only cost you gold.” he glanced towards the Lord.

“...Stay out of this, witcher.” you spoke up, “The least you want would be an enemy with the knowledge of blood magic...” “Blood magic is not real.” “Oh?” you snorted, stood up and walked up to him, “And you think you know better?” You were inches away from him, staring up into his eyes, you felt a great sorrow emerged deep within you that was alien to you. “Don’t do this...” he whispered. You tilted your head, squinted your eyes slightly, puzzled, by the look on his face. “I’m certainly not letting a mutant telling me what I can’t do.” you smirked, “Eyle?”

In a flash, Eyle threw the Lord- who was probably weighted twice as much as Eyle- onto the ground, cut the Lord’s arm open with a sharp, weirdly twisted dagger. “Ahhhh!” Crewe screamed as Eyle pinned him down with great force, and caught the blood in the tubes.

Eyle finished his job, got up and handed one to you. You extended your arm out, took the tube, and started drinking. Without breaking eye contact with the witcher. You tilted your head up to get the last few drops, closing your eyes. The torches and the candles started flickering.

You felt the warm thick substance slid down your throat, a smile escaped from the corner of your lips. You opened your eyes, it was completely covered in a dark red color. “She’s summoning them!” Gauntelle gasped as the green lights started fading into the hall. “...Shut him up, will you?” your head turned slightly to the side, voice hoarse and cracked, weirdly hollowed. Eyle moved in the speed of lightening- the witcher was surprised for his mutated eyes could barely follow track, but he didn’t show it on his face- and knock the fancy dressing cousin out with a single blow in the temple.

All the lights were dimmed by some unseen force, the wraiths returned with more laughs and whispers. You started chanting, slowly raising your arms and dragged a long line on your marked forearm with the pointy thumb ring, the sharp end openedbup your skin effortlessly. The witcher’s face grew paler as your smile widened maliciously, the metallic smell of blood grew thicker and thicker. Thick, dark, web-like tentacles emerged from the floor, the corner of the walls, and reached for the wraiths. A new layer of whisper joined in, the witcher turned to make sure it wasn’t from someone standing next to him. Shivers running down the spines of those who were present.

You clenched your fists in the air, the tentacles snatched the flying wraiths. These poor cursed souls screamed in anguish, visibly burning and disintegrating from the inside till there’s nothing left.

The light slowly came back, the tentacles retracted into the shadow. You put down your arms, the color of deep dark maroon that was over your eyes were faded. The great Lord Crewe had already passed out cold on the ground. A dread of silence stuffed the whole room, for a moment the witcher thought he was deaf, till he realized that he could hear the blood flowing in his ear.

“...What did you do?” he asked quietly. You wiped the blood on your arm away with the corner of your dress, “I took care of the wraiths.” It was a deep slit, but it already stopped bleeding. “The wraiths, they would return-” “Of course they would. They were here because our lord likes to play sick games with the maids, nothing can really solve the problem. The wraiths will be back, it's only a matter of time.” you walked away and slid a letter into the pocket of Crewe, “However, I suggest you to stay out of this, this dimwit is in my debt now and I need him. I strongly advise you not to go against my will.” 

  “...What happened to you? Where have you been?...” You heard him asked, and you could heard the sorrow in his voice. You raised your head to meet his gaze, “I believe you’ve mistaken me as someone else?” you tilted your head with a pitiful look. “...What?” he looked confused. “I don’t know you, witcher.” “...” “Itzel, our ride is here.” Eyle, like a ghost, already retrieved your cloak and was waiting at the door. “Well, witcher,” you gave him one last look before putting on your mask, “let’s hope that we never cross path again. I hate competitions.” You walked to the door, let Eyle help you put on the cloak, and left.

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #geralt x reader #geralt x you #geralt x y/n

[girlbabyvelez]

Royals // Chapter Six

Summary: You finally tell your ladies the truth and Chris confronts you about your betrayal.

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Swearing obvs

Everything from that first day seems so different yet the same. You were back to square one with Chris, he was as heartless and cold as he seemed that first day. You can’t believe you fell for his tricks, you had actually fallen for him over the past month of trying this relationship and this whole time he was playing you. You now had a dark cloud hanging over you and now you couldn’t even be hopeful about what was supposed to be the happiest day of your life.

You could feel the seamstresses measuring you for the dresses, you could feel them pull up the wedding gowns and adjusting them to your size which was easy since you stood as stiff as a board in front of the mirror, the seamstresses ensuring that the dress fit you like a glove. You should be excited and giddy about this, finding the perfect dress for your wedding day but you could only feel empty inside. You wish you could be normal, not forced into the obligations of being a royal. 

“Relax princesa.” The Queen ordered you as soon as she noticed your posture. She chalked it up to nerves. “You’ll know it’s the perfect dress as soon as you try it on so until then don’t worry.” She tells you as she steps up to you. You plaster a fake smile on as you realize that she had no idea why you were so stiff, she thought it was because you were worried over the perfect dress but in reality, you were an emotional mess inside.

“I’m sorry, your grace. I just wish my mother were here to help.” You weren’t necessarily lying, you needed your family more than ever at this time. But there were thousands of miles away from you, at home.

“They will be here mija, for the wedding of course. But you have me to figure it out.” She responded kindly. And you knew that she was just trying to step into the role of your mother but it all felt so wrong to you. Here you were, feeling anger and hateful towards her son and she was trying to welcome you into her arms. 

“Is it alright if I take a break?” You asked her, you just needed to get fresh air before you continued to put on this act. You just needed to take a moment for yourself, be able to step away from everything that was overwhelming you.

“Of course. Have your ladies join you.” The Queen softly tells you and the seamstresses take your current wedding gown off before helping you back into your intricate lilac gown. You were used to their actions and before you knew it they had you fully dressed into your daily attire and you were rushing out of the room with your ladies on your heels. 

“Y/N slow down!” You heard Alejandra loudly tell you as they tried to keep up with you. The three of them had noticed the shift in your demeanor. You weren’t the bubbly princess you became when you were with Chris anymore. No, they noticed how you no longer spoke about the prince and how quiet you had become, and even though you were physically with them it seemed your mind was elsewhere. All three of them had their own theories about what happened but they all knew everything changed the night you came back from Chris’s room after you went to search for your lost necklace. They could only guess what happened since you hadn’t seemed to open up to them yet. 

You crouch over as soon as you were outside in the garden. You felt like you couldn’t breathe properly anymore and it felt like the corset was getting tighter around your middle with every breath. Everything was beginning to overwhelm you, drown you. The wedding was coming so soon and you would truly be trapped in a loveless and painful marriage for the rest of your life, your family was thousands of miles away from you when all you needed was them, and worst of all, no one knew what you were feeling which seemed to isolate you more.

“Oh,” You hear your ladies gasp as soon as they see the state you are in. You immediately felt Alejandra’s hand find your back as she tried to soothe you. They stayed silent and tried to comfort you until you were ready to tell them what has been happening.

Once you felt your breathing even out and the overwhelming sense pass you, you stood up straight and turned to face your ladies. They all looked at you with concerned eyes, the question evident in their look. You took a deep breath to try to gather the words and courage properly. 

“That night I lost my necklace, I went to Chris’ room and saw him… with another woman.” You let out. Paola, Alejandra, and Itzel were all shocked to hear what happened, they had really thought that everything was going well between you and Chris but how wrong they were.

“What?” Itzel squeaks out, she was still trying to process what you had said.

“He cheated on me with a maid!” You said and this time it was real, before when you chose not to speak with the girls, you hadn’t felt the full wave of anger at Chris, you were mostly hurt but now you knew how much he betrayed you and your trust. “I hate him. I don’t want to marry him and I don’t want this stupid wedding.” You blurt out truthfully. 

“But princesa, the alliance-” Alejandra began but you couldn’t even let her finish because you already knew that you were going to marry Chris because of the alliance. You didn’t want to be reminded of your fate that you had no choice in. 

“I know! Okay?” You say. “He betrayed my trust and love for him. I just need some time to get used to that idea.” They just look at you with sympathy in their eyes, they understood that when you were born into a royal family, you forfeited a lot of normality that they found in their own lives.

“Okay.” Alejandra responds.

“We will help carry you through this. We’ll help with the dress and we’ll take over for the wedding planning so you aren’t overwhelmed.” Paola suggests and she wraps her arm around you. You nod at her words, maybe if they took over then you wouldn’t be feeling as much dread towards your future.

“But we should go back inside before the Queen gets suspicious.” ~

It had been almost a week since Chris had found out that you were meeting with Salazar and he hadn’t seen you the entire week. You were good at avoiding him, anytime he entered a room your ladies would surround you and lead you out, you were smart not to be alone but he needed to speak with you. 

Tonight was the perfect night, his mother was holding a dinner for the ladies, so you could make connections with the Queens from other kingdoms. He would use it to his advantage, your guard would be down and you wouldn’t be expecting him so he stood in the shadows, watching and waiting until you were alone.

He could easily pick you out of the crowd rather quickly, he saw you in your blue gown, and for a moment he forgot what was happening between you two and was mesmerized by your beauty. The dress hugged all of his favorite parts of your body and you moved with such grace. You seemed so different now compared to the night he confessed he loved you. That night your eyes were full of happiness and adoration for him but now you looked serious and deep in thought, the crease between your eyebrow was now noticeable. He could only guess that you were thinking of Salazar and your next move, and at the thought of your betrayal he was brought back to reality and the pain and anger bubbled on the surface again.

He knows that he shouldn’t care because you betrayed him but he wanted you to be okay, he wanted you alive and safe from his father. He noticed that your ladies had left your side briefly and you kept walking closer to where he stood in the shadows, this was his opportunity.

He took a step forward once you were close enough and grabbed your arm tightly. You were caught off guard by the tight grip on your arm and Chris used this to easily pull you into the shadows with him. You could feel yourself being pressed up against the hard wall, he was trapping you between him and the wall with no way to escape. Your anxious emotions were suddenly turned to 100 as you weren’t expecting to be facing him this soon and you wish you weren’t here with him.

“Are you stupid?” He questioned, his tone and question taking you back in surprise. Your eyes quickly snapped to his and you could see the intensity and hurt behind them. You felt the anger rise in you once again, he had no right to talk to you that way when he was the one who cheated and used you.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” You retorted as you tried to push him away from you but he didn’t budge. Instead, it caused him to push his body closer to you, and it made you fear him for a moment but you weren’t going to show weakness in front of him.

“Really? You want to play dumb now?” He snarled, letting the anger control him now. How could you stand there in front of him and pretend to be innocent? As if your life wasn’t in danger by your actions. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You spat out, your once warm eyes now glaring at him. He rolled his eyes at your words and lowered his head towards you, he looked right into your eyes, and this time you couldn’t see the hurt instead you saw pure anger.

“You’re a traitor to the crown. You betrayed me.” He countered quietly and dangerously. His words instantly made your heart drop into your stomach, how had he found about your meeting with Salazar? “I know about Salazar. Do you want to be disowned by your family and die a traitor?”

“Shut it, Velez. I wouldn’t have gone to Salazar if you hadn’t forced me.” You snapped at him. “Telling me you love me and then go right to fucking a maid as soon as I leave.” You added and he froze at your words, he wasn’t aware that you knew about what happened that night. You took advantage of his shocked state to push him away from you, finally free from his trap. 

“Y/N I-” He began and you knew the only thing he was going to respond with was excuses to get you back into his hold, but you knew your worth was more than that. You refused to be played like a fool. You were his future Queen for goodness sake.

“No fuck you, Chris!”  You cut him off quickly, all the venom coming out with your words. You could feel your breath was coming out heavy and you knew the anger was taking control of you. “I only went to Salazar for the truth. How you have been playing me. And I’m such a fool for not seeing it. 

“That’s not-” Chris began again but you were quick to cut him off. You shook your head knowing that you held the power in this alliance, without you Ecuador would have been invaded by Colombia.

“You need me. You’ll lose your country without me!”

“And you’ll lose your head without me!” He shouted. The silence quickly overtook both of you, no longer wanting to be in each other’s presence. The air was now tense between the two of you, something you guys weren’t used to anymore. “I’m just warning you, if you pick Salazar then you will die for it,” Christopher adds as he gets closer to you once again. This time you stood straight as you faced him.

“I don’t choose Salazar. If I marry you, I only do it for my family and my country. You mean nothing to me, Velez.” You spat harshly. Chris stopped for a moment, frozen at your words. Just days ago the two of you had admitted your love for one another and now here you were shouting cold, harsh words at each other. As his eyes met yours, he could feel the resentment you held for him. Your eyes were no longer warm, kind, or loving. All he could see now was the anger behind your eyes and the cold and unwelcoming stare you had for him.

“There’s three weeks until the wedding. It’s too late to break the alliance now.” Chris reminds you. You knew he was right, the ball was rolling and it would be nearly impossible to stop. You were bound by the alliance and you just had to get used to it.

-

Note: Ahhhh sorry for the delayed update lol. I had exams the past two weeks and I have another next week so I have been stressed & busy studying! I hope you like this chapter though!

Taglist:  @phanislife124 @bbyyelyah  @zabdisamor @xxxstormyninixxx  @babecita-1 @yashuazbabygirl @getmealifepls @cyaneaa @codename-nyx @cncoh-damn @mamacamacho @smoljoelito @itsmaytimetosaygoodbye @ladykxxx08 @la-undercover-latina @lostpil52 @undeadspazzattack @plentyoffandomss @babyyynatty @juneninetynine @cnchoe-imagines @valeriiaaass @moonlitzabdiel @damnthoseyes  @ourkarlanicoleuniverse @niallisworld @multi-fandomgoddess @california-creator @ ego-allie-bap @zabdicl @chellybear98 @sometimesbadalwaysboujie​ @estoy-enamorado-de-ti @nochillnelly @ericksmamita @cncoamor @you-kinda-smell-like-christmas @pizzaspirits​ @josiemara​ @deniseasonrisa @nqbmf @afro-doll @h-bea92​ @the-almond-dinger​  @miericksongo​ @cncosoftie​  @ohitsnicolexo​  @midnightjmadness

#cnco imagines #cnco fanfic #christopher velez imagine #christopher velez #richard camacho imagine #richard camacho #zabdiel de jesus imagine #zabdiel de jesus #joel pimentel imagine #joel pimentel #erick brian colon imagine #erick brian colon #royals #ROYAL AU #cnco

[tavi-hayes]

side fic three ~ lost and found

((hello, i present to you another side fic. i apologize in advance for the quality of this. i had written out almost all the rp on tuesday and i was quite content with the result (which never happens, my writing makes me cringe) but then when i switched my laptop on yesterday, the document hadn’t saved and all was gone, so i had to start all over again and i couldn’t remember what i had written and urgh... i just hope this fic is doing some justice to the rp which was so nice thank you anna @hugo-stanton​! anyhow if you decide to read this then enjoy, and maybe ignore all spelling/grammar mistakes. also there are some mentions here of the wonderful rps with itzel, brooke and leana but i still need to write them out i’m sorry))

“What is your photography project about exactly? I know it has something to do with the selection but...” I let my voice trail off a bit, I honestly don’t have any clue what the reason for the photos could be.

A couple of nights ago I was hanging out with Brooke. When I told her I found a friend in Hugo, she began to question his entire existence. Her sceptical attitude made me doubt myself, was he real or a product of my imagination? But when I showed up to dinner the next day, myself still being extremely hungover, my suspicions were confirmed. Hugo was there too, he was real. Thank god, I wasn’t going crazy after all.

He had knocked on my door a good 10 minutes ago, ready to show me some interesting places in this gigantic palace. During the photography thing I had asked if he could show me around. Perhaps it had been a bit bold to ask, but I was just sick of getting lost all the time. I hadn’t expected him to remember the promise of a tour. But here we are, walking in some hallway towards a destination still unknown to me.

My question makes Hugo chuckle a little, “people keep asking me that. But I guess it’s just that this is such a historical moment and at the end of this we’ll welcome someone new into our family.” There is a little silence before he continues speaking, “Arin isn’t the biggest fan of people having such an intimate view of his life. But what I’m doing is really just going to stay in our family.”

“Hm,” I nod my head. I can definitely see why the prince would feel that way. It must be annoying to have an entire country looking at you and judging every move you make. “So it's more like a memory kind of thing?”

“In a way yeah. Hopefully it can be something for Arin to appreciate. But if not then at least I enjoyed myself and made some new friends.”

“I'm sure he will appreciate it, if only for the effort you put into it.” I glance around the hallway, I don’t recognize anything here. Have I even been here before? “Good for you for making friends.”

That makes him chuckle again. “I'm enjoying it so far for sure. It's nice having someone here who has the time to talk to me.”

“Well I'm glad to hear you've found that person.” We’ve reached the end of the hall. There is a set of gigantic double doors in front of us, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before. Or maybe I have and I just don’t remember.

Hugo points towards the doors, “that's the gallery- we can go in or skip it if you like.”

I nod my head, trying to see if I remember the way we’ve walked to get here. “You don't like the gallery?”

“Oh, it's fine! I just don't know if you're into art.”

“Let’s continue,” I look away from the doors and glance at Hugo instead, “I can always come back another time.”

“Alright,” he turns and motions to some other doors. “These are all empty rooms- there's a lot of those.”

I don’t quite understand the look he’s giving me. There is a hint of embarrassment on his face, “hm, so it's a matter of too many rooms, and not enough stuff to put into them?”

“Or just too many rooms.”

I nod my head as if I understand, but it sounds like a rich people problem to me. The strange expression is still visible on his face, “why that face?”

He shrugs, “I guess maybe I'm just not into the massive home with the servants and everything.”

“Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ...” I clear my throat softly, unsure of how to continue that sentence. “So I'm guessing you don't have a palace of your own?”

His laughter fills the hallway, “I have an apartment- but if you squint enough I guess you can pretend it looks like a palace.”

“And your ‘servants’ probably listen very well to all your needs,” I raise my hands to place some air quotes around servants.

Hugo nods his head, “oh, yes. My manservant is very attentive. Although,” he leans a little closer as if he is going to let me in on a secret. “Between you and I he really could be more neat and better at staying organized. ”

That makes me laugh, “hm maybe you can just tell him? Or does he not take criticism very well?”

“I'm not sure, I've never tried to tell him off too much.” He chuckles a little more as we walk past the doors in this hallway. I can’t help but think about the empty rooms behind them. There’s so many of them, it’s quite sad.

“You know him best of course, just don't be too hard on him, okay?”

“I'll try- but I make no promises.” We reach the end of another corridor. “Okay, so that over there leads to the lower level but there's not too much down there from what I remember.” I look towards the direction he’s pointing in. “But over this way is the music room if you want to go there.”

I glance from one direction to the other, “the music room sounds perfect to me.” I’ve had some nice moments in the music room lately. First Leana and I had a great chat in there. It had made me realize I had been wrong for judging her based on her profession. And more recently Itzel entered the room when I had been playing some guitar. Even though that had been the first time we properly met, I think of her as a friend already. “But you're the tour guide, so it's really your call.”

“Well, you let me take all those photos so I think you've more than earned your say.” A smile appears on his face. “But if you want to go then let's go.”

I have to increase my pace to keep up with him. Why do tall people walk this fast? “Pfft, you were putting all the effort in and taking photos, while all I did was do nothing besides talking to you. Which I quite enjoyed actually, the talking part I mean,” I say, realizing I’m just rambling and it probably doesn’t make that much sense.

“You were patient though. Not everyone can do that.”

I don’t really know what to say to that, his kindness makes me smile. “What's your favourite place in the palace?”

Apparently that’s a hard question because Hugo is silent for another moment. It’s not that difficult for me to pick one favourite place: the music room. But then again there are only a couple of rooms that I frequently visit. And I’ve only been here for a couple of months.

“Promise me you won't laugh?”

I place my right hand right on top of my heart, “I promise I won't laugh.” Unless his answer is going to be extremely ridiculous, like the bathroom or something. But I refrain from saying that.

“Okay,” he says as he’s nodding his head. “It's the stairs.”

Now that is not the answer I was expecting at all, “you may need to explain that.”

“They're just calm- usually. But also they're a good place to see everything that's going on. Also, if you're feeling really brave you can slide down the bannister.”

I can’t stop myself from laughing. There are so many different ways how that can go wrong. “Have you ever done that before? Slide down the bannister?”

Hugo glances around before nodding his head, “I have, yeah.”

My eyebrows raise in curiosity. “How did that go? Did you land on your feet?”

There is a grin on his face. “Yeah, I did.”

“Hm,” I smirk, “I don't think I'll be able to believe you until I've seen some proof of that.”

“Well, only if you're willing to try it out yourself.” He walks over to a door and opens it.

I suddenly realize we’ve reached the music room, I’ve been so distracted by talking with him that I hadn’t noticed. But indeed, there is the weird painting of some creepy male person. The painting was a great orientation point, indicating which door lead to the music room.

“Deal,” I say before walking into the music room, mumbling a thank you to Hugo for holding the door open for me.

It looks exactly the same as the last time I’ve been here. It’s like no one, besides me, uses this room. But I know that’s not true, Leana had been playing her guitar in here not that long before today. Still, it looks abandoned.

“Have you been in here before?”

I hear the door fall shut behind me and turn around, nodding my head. “Yeah I have actually, this is such a great place to be. It's hard to stay away.” The acoustics in this room are close to perfect, of course I would come here all the time.

“You're still practicing then?”

“Yes of course, there are always new things to learn.” I smile a little, “would you like to hear some?”

Hugo nods in return, “I'd love to. If you're willing.”

“Of course.” If there ever comes a day that I’m not willing to play music, someone should probably take me to a doctor or something. I walk over to one of the guitars and pick it up. Normally I would practice on my own bass guitar, but with this tour going on I hadn’t thought about bringing it along with me. I take the guitar with me to one of the sofas and sit down, “any requests?”

He thinks for a moment before saying, “a song you love.”

Hm, that is not a good question to ask someone who loves music as much as I do. “A song I love,” there are so many song titles coming to mind. But after a second I know which one to play. To check if this guitar is even tuned, I play some chords. “Let me just…” my voice trails off as I start loosening and tightening some machine heads. I play a low E2 and a high E4, but it’s still slightly out of tune. I repeat the actions until I’m content with the result. When I look up I find Hugo smiling at me, “ready?”

He nods his head, “ready.”

I’m still watching him as he sits down on the floor a little away from me, the sight of him makes me smile. I shift slightly so I’m a bit more comfortable on the sofa and put my fingers in the right positions. I start playing Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers, a song I know by heart. My fingers find the strings automatically, making no mistakes. When I’m done I look back at Hugo again, “tada!” I played the exact same song for Leana the other day and her reaction was nothing but positive. I can’t wait to find out what Hugo thinks.

“Tavi, that was amazing.” He stands up and starts clapping his hands.

There is a bit of an echo in this room, so it actually sounds like at least a dozen people are applauding. I can feel my face heat a little, a smile spreading across my face. “Oh stop, it was nothing.”

He shakes his head as he walks towards me, “it was beautiful.”

His eyes are on the guitar in my hands, my eyes are on him. “I'm glad you think that, thank you.”

I’m still looking at his face when his gaze shifts, meeting mine. “What made you pick it?”

“The song?” The movement of his hand catches my attention and I look down just in time to see him reaching towards the guitar. “I just think it's one of the best songs in the entire history of music.”

“I mean the guitar.” He runs a finger along the neck of the guitar. For some reason that specific action feels strangely intimate to me.

A shiver runs down my spine. “Oh,” I focus back on his face again, “the first instrument I got my hands on when I was a kid, was a guitar. It was like love at first sight.”

Hugo nods his head, “I can tell. I mean how much practice and time you've put in.”

He makes me smile again, “and it was definitely worth all the time and energy.” And by that I mean 15 years of practicing almost every day.

A smile appears on his face as well. “It really was. You're very talented.”

“Oh shush,” I can feel my cheeks heat again. I can’t handle all these kind words. “Do you play any music instruments?”

“I used to play violin but I stopped a long time ago.” The smile has disappeared, now there is a frown on his face.

“The violin is such a beautiful instrument,” both my mom and my brother mastered that skill. I wish I could hear them play again. “Why did you stop?”

He looks at me for a moment without saying anything, before swallowing once. “My mom was the one who kept me going and once she was gone it just didn't have the same appeal.” His eyes meet mine for a moment longer, before his gaze goes back to the guitar.

“Oh Hugo,” I don’t even know what I’m doing but before I know it I reach for his hand. His skin feels very soft, especially compared to my own calloused fingers, the result of playing string instruments for so long. “I'm so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

“But that doesn't mean it's nothing.” I’m debating whether or not to ask what happened. I know how annoying it can be when someone sticks their nose in other people’s business that doesn’t concern them.

“It’s not, but it also isn’t a big deal.” He shrugs, “I don’t mind talking about it. It just usually makes people uncomfortable.”

I suddenly realize the awkwardness of the position we’re in. He’s standing while I’m sitting, not the nicest way to have a conversation. I let go of his hand and scoot over on the sofa, carefully placing the guitar on the floor so that it is sort of leaning against the sofa. There is now a place for him to sit if he would want to. “You wanna talk about it?”

“There isn’t too much left to talk about but sure.” He sits down beside me.

I turn to sit sideways so I can actually face him, “what happened?” So far for not sticking my nose in other people’s business.

“My mom left when I was a kid and I haven’t seen her since. I’m not sure it’s as exciting as you thought it’d be.”

“Oh,” I manage to get out, simply because I wasn’t looking for an exciting story whatsoever. If there is someone who knows what it’s like to have one parent leave your life, it’s me. I don’t know what’s worse, having a parent walk out of your life deliberately or have a parent ripped away from you. Both situations suck. “And she never reached out to you?”

“I think she might have sent a birthday card a few years ago but other than that there’s nothing that I remember.” Hugo shrugs.

I can’t stop looking at his face. “I'm sorry that happened,” I say, unconsciously twirling a curl around my finger.

“Don't be. It's not your fault. And anyway, I have my dad and my family here so it's not like I have too much time to dwell on it.” I can see his gaze shifting slightly, making me aware of what I’m doing with my hair. “What are your parents like?”

I don’t know what kind of an expression I had on my face, but it disappears as quickly as the sad feelings resurface. “Uhm,” I bring my hand away from my hair, scratching the skin around my collarbone instead. “My parents.” There are a billion ways to get that message across, each with their own amount of details. “They're kind people and we're very close.” I close my eyes, I’m debating which strategy to use. I decide to go for the ripping-off-the-bandaid one. “My dad is in prison and my mom has not been the same since he got arrested.” I open my eyes again and find my hands clasped together in my lap.

“Oh, Tavi, I'm so sorry. That must be really difficult.” His hand reaches for mine. I don’t feel his hand on my skin, my feelings are a bit too busy trying to drown me on the inside. But I do see his hand, now covering mine. “We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But if you do... I'm here for you.”

I force a smile to my face, but it doesn’t stay there. “Thanks, that is very kind of you.” I clasp my hands together more tightly to stop them from shaking. “I just wish I could find a way to help him.”

“Can I ask what happened?”

Maybe it’s the concern in his voice or maybe I just want him to get to know the real me, but I urge myself to start talking. “My dad got called in as a witness for a different court hearing.” The memories of that day all come back to mind. “But then when that was over, and we were about to leave,” I have to pause for a minute to calm myself down, “when the judge called out to him, saying he was accused of murder.” I swallow to get the lump in my throat to go away. “And the judge just gave his verdict, and he got arrested.”

“I'm so sorry, Tavi. That doesn't sound right.”

“It's not,” I shake my head a little. “That's why I applied to this selection,” I make myself look at him again, “to see if I could find a way to give my dad his freedom back.”

“Have you talked to Arin? He might be able to help.”

“He knows about the jail situation and my dad's sentence.” There is so much sadness in Hugo’s eyes and I can’t handle that right now, so I focus back on my hands again. “Do you think he would want to help me?” I honestly doubt it. We hadn’t spoken since that god-awful date, when I had tried to shoot him with a paintball gun.

“I'm sure he'd want to.” Hugo stays silent for a moment. “But sometimes he can't. They sort of keep him on a tight leash.”

“I can imagine,” I say, nodding my head. And besides, the prince is in the middle of a selection, while keeping the country running. I doubt he would have the time or energy to help another charity case. What would he even do? My eyes find Hugo’s again, “but thank you, I'll talk to him.”

His voice is a bit more quiet this time, “how long has it been since you've seen him?”

“6 years,” I have to swallow again. I can’t start crying now, what must Hugo think of me?

His face falls, “that's not fair at all. You should get to see him, Tavi. Especially if he wants to see you.”

I can’t even begin to imagine what I look like right now. “He's being held in a prison in St. George, so it's not exactly around the corner. And we have been saving money to go visit him ever since his arrest, but it never was enough.”

A dash of confusion spreads across his face. “Why is he all the way in St. George?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. It has never made any sense to me, Denbeigh had a maximum security prison of its own. But no, my dad had to be shipped off to another province. “It's what the judge stated in his verdict.”

“What about lawyers? What did they say?”

“The ones we could afford, didn't want to help us.” Some lawyers had tried to explain why they couldn’t help us, but others hadn’t even allowed us to enter their building. “They said it was a losing game, and that being associated with us would not be good for their reputation.”

“That's not right at all. They should be ashamed.”

“They should,” I press my lips together. I don’t understand the point of lawyers if they don’t want to get their hands dirty. “But there's nothing to do about that.”

Hugo shakes his head. “There has to be. There's always a way.”

It’s that exact thought that has kept me going all these years, I can’t let my dad rot away behind bars. I try to smile, “I'd like to think that, yes.”

He nods his head now. “There is. And I believe it can be found. You were Selected after all. Isn't that a sign?”

“Yeah maybe,” I thought getting access to the palace library would be the key to solve all my problems. But as it turns out, life is never easy. And I still hadn’t found anything that could possibly help my dad.

I’m done feeling like Debbie Downer and pulling Hugo into my bubble of sadness and despair, so I decide to change the topic. “Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think being a tour guide is your calling.”

The sound of Hugo’s laughter makes my sad feelings go away. “Is this a bad time to tell you that I only invited you to do this because I'm starting a tour guide business and I need a 5 star Yowl review?”

I can still see the concern in his eyes, but I’m glad for the change to a lighter topic. “Aha,” I even have to chuckle, “and here I was thinking we were friends. You just need me to do something.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I hope you don’t think badly of me.”

“Hm,” I pat his hand twice before getting up from the sofa. I pick up the guitar. “I can't promise a 5-star review now.”

“I can’t believe you just ruined my dreams. We had a deal, Tavi.”

I carry the guitar back to where I got it from and place it onto its stand. “I don't remember making a deal.” I shrug and turn around to face Hugo again, “I'm sorry, for me it's honesty above all else.”

There is a long and dramatic sigh. “Honesty? Even if it breaks my heart?”

It take all of my willpower not to burst into laughter. Instead I gasp, “would you prefer me to lie to your future customers?”

“Isn’t that what a friend would do?”

“Okay,” it takes me a second to come up with the perfect review. “’best tour I've been on in my entire life: the tour takes you to a lot of interesting places, the tour guide himself is very friendly and helpful, you get all the information you could possibly want and more. Easily 5 stars!’” I raise my eyebrows, “how does that sound?”

That makes him chuckle. “You left out the best part. ‘At the end he lets you slide down the bannisters.’”

“Oh right, how can I forget that?”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “I can't believe you didn't remember.”

“I'm sorry okay.” I pull the corners of my lips down to create an extremely sad face. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Another dramatic sigh. “Only because you said you're sorry.” His eyes go to the door. “So- should we continue on or do you want to go straight to me beating you at a race down the bannisters?”

Excuse me? I raise my eyebrows in surprise, “you beating me? We'll see about that.” I flip my hair over my shoulder, “let's go to the bannisters then.”

I can’t quite figure out the look he’s given me, but there is definitely excitement in his eyes. “You're on then. Let's go.”

Before I know it, we’re standing in the entrance hall again with the big staircase leading upwards in front of us. It looks 10 times steeper than all the other times I’ve been here.

“Okay, are you ready? To lose I mean.”

This guy. I poke him with my elbow in response. “You shouldn't say that so often, you might start believing you actually have a chance at winning.”

“I think I know I'll win.” Hugo has a confident smile on his face.

“Of course you do.” Meanwhile, I begin to wonder if I have a death wish or something. I don’t see how this is going to end well for me, especially because I have zero experience. “What will the winner get? What's the prize?”

There is a moment of silence, but then a grin appears on his face. “The loser has to play a song on the guitar?”

I don’t see how that is such a bad thing for me. Either I have to play the guitar again or Hugo will play a song for me. It’s a win-win really. But still I want to beat him of course, if only so I can keep reminding him of it. “Okay fine, deal?” I extend my hand for him to shake.

He shakes my hand. “Boy, I really hope I win now. I can’t play the guitar at all.”

I laugh, “I would love to see that.” I turn to face the stairs again, “do you wanna go first?”

Hugo chuckles in response, “this is a together or not at all thing.” He points to the bannister on the right side. “You take that one and I’ll take the other?”

I nod my head, “okay fine.” I turn back to look at him one final time, “good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.” And with that we start walking up the stairs.

I’m about halfway up when I decide it’s a good moment to turn around and look back down. I’ve never really noticed how far down the floor is. “All the way to the top?”

A chuckle reaches me from the other side of the steps, “all the way to the top.”

It feels like I’m climbing the Mount Everest, but eventually I make it to the top. I dare myself to look over the bannister. Yup there is the floor, all the way down there. If I lose my balance and fall, I have to make sure I fall to the left so the stairs will break my fall. If I fall to the right, the floor will break my bones.

I glance over at Hugo, he’s already in position and looking over at me. “You ready?”

No is what I want to say, but I swing my leg over the bannister instead. It’s a good thing I’m wearing some trousers today, doing this with a dress on would be impossible. When I feel as comfortable as I can be, given the circumstances, I call over, “yeah. You?”

“Yeah. Count to three?”

I nod my head. What am I even doing? “One? Two?”

“Three!”

I start to slide down very very slowly, but carefully. There are no disbalances yet so I allow myself to go a bit faster. This actually going pretty well. Maybe this is one of my undiscovered talents? But then I feel that I’m slightly leaning towards the right, the side with the floor. I hold on to the bannister for the life of me.

That actually helps and I let out a sigh of relief. I’m not dead yet.

I carefully slide onwards without any more troubles until the sliding stops completely, just a couple of steps away from the ground floor level. I jump down from the bannister, glad to have some solid ground under my feet again.

Then I hear a loud thud and I turn around. Someone did not land on his feet.

“I think I lost.”

I hurry to Hugo’s side, “are you okay? Are you in pain?”

He laughs, but I can’t decide if it’s a normal laugh or an omg-I-am-in-so-much-pain one. Maybe I should go get some help.

“I'm okay... I just need a second.” He takes a deep breath but then a frown appears on his face. “What's that?”

“Are you sure you're okay?” My eyebrows knit together in confusion. “What's what?”

“Over there.” I look over in the directions he’s pointing to. All I see is a little sofa, nothing else.

“Did you hit your head?”

Hugo shakes his head in return, “I don't think so.” At that he stands up and starts walking towards the sofa.

I truly wonder what it is he’s seeing. Has he gone delusional? I follow him just in case, perhaps he’s going to fall again. Not that I think I would be able to catch him if he does, but at least I will be nearby.

I watch him push the sofa aside before bending down and picking something up. Okay so he legit saw something, he’s not going crazy.

There is an amused smile on his face when he turns to show me what he has found. “It's an iPod.”

“Oh,” I move a little closer to get a better view. Could this be … ? No. Maybe. It looks like my iPod. But perhaps someone else owns the same one?

Hugo holds it out to me, “see. I wonder how on earth it got there.”

I can’t take my eyes off the silver device in his hand. My heartbeat increases slightly. “I think it might be mine?”

“Really? Wow.” He chuckles a little, “it's a good thing I fell then.”

“Definitely,” this might be one of the best days in my life. “Can I see it?”

“Of course! It's yours.” He holds the iPod out for me. I gladly take it and flip it over in my hand. The scratch on the logo is there, from when it had been in my bag together with my keys. And the little dent in the bottom right corner is present as well. My heartbeat increases even more.

To be 100% sure, I switch it on. It’s a miracle that the battery is still working. The title of the song and the name of the artists appear on the screen: Caspar Hayes & Jimmie Davis. This really is my iPod.

I clutch the little device close to my chest, I will never ever let go of it again. “Thank you! I thought it was lost for good.”

“So, then it looks like you really are the winner.”

I look up at Hugo to find him already looking at me with a huge smile on his face. I can’t help but smile myself, I haven’t felt this happy in a very long time. “And now you owe a song too. This is such a good day for me.”

He sucks in a breath, nodding his head. “I think after you hear me play you'll never want to see me again.”

I shake my head, the smile is still on my face when I’m looking at him. “I don't think I will ever think that.”

The tiniest hint of a blush appears on his cheeks, “really?”

“Yeah, I mean not everyone can be as talented as I am.”

That makes him laugh, “well, you're right. You're really talented.”

I shake my head a little, I was only joking. The smile remains where it is as I turn around to have another look towards the bannisters. “You didn't lose on purpose, did you?”

He shrugs, but his eyes meet mine. “I don't think I did.”

“Okay that's good to hear,” I notice the soft smile on his face. “Otherwise we'd have to do a rematch.”

Another one of his laughs echoes in the hall, it’s such a heart-warming sound. “I think after today I'm going into retirement.”

I can’t hold my own laugh back. “what a shame. The national bannister sliding team will miss its star.”

He shakes his head in return. “After that poor display of sportsmanship? I think they'd be thrilled to get rid of me.”

“One lost game doesn't define your entire career though.”

“Maybe not, but I'm glad that my last hurrah was witnessed by you- even if I fell.”

“I feel honoured.” I bring my hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. “But are you sure you didn't hurt yourself?” I hadn’t seen the fall itself, but the thud was quite loud and the ground was unforgivingly solid.

He nods his head, “I promise I'm fine. The only thing injured is my is my unbroken winning streak at bannister races. So I think I'll live. And all in all you're not a bad person to lose to.”

I can’t stop myself from snorting, “wow thanks, what a great compliment.”

Last time he said my company was better than that of a garbage bag and now I wasn’t a bad person to lose to. Such considerate and kind words.

“Thank you, I really thought about that one for a long time.”

“I can tell,” I say with a smirk on my face. “Hey do you happen to know what time it is? My maids will scold me if I'm late for dinner preparations again.” Any other day I wouldn’t have cared for their mean words and angry glances, but I don’t want them to bring my mood down after the fun day I’ve had.

Hugo glances down at his watch, “it's 4:47. So there's just a bit over an hour until dinner.”

“Hmm,” I nod my head a little. According to Willa and Carla, they needed at least 50 minutes to make me look somewhat presentable for the royal family. Sigh. “Maybe I should head back to my room then?”

“Of course, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble.” He doesn’t look at me this time, his eyes are focussed on the floor instead. “Would it be okay if I walked you?”

The question surprises me, I’m perfectly capable of walking myself back to my room. And I know which way I have to go: just up the stairs and then to the left. It isn’t that difficult. But the sight of Hugo and the way he asked, I can’t help but smile. “Of course.”

“Then I guess I will lead the way- very carefully though. I think I've embarrassed myself enough for the day.” He offers his arm to me. It reminds me of my date with prince Arin. When he had offered me his arm, I hadn’t wanted to be anywhere near him, let alone touch him.

But this time, I don’t even have to think about it. I gently take his arm, “thank you.” I turn my face a bit so I can look up at him. “What are you talking about? Besides the bannister thing, when did you embarrass yourself?”

“It was mostly that.” He blushes a little bit, but it’s just enough for me to notice it.

I pat his arm a couple of times, hoping to take some of that embarrassment away. I truly don’t think the fall had been that humiliating. “Don't worry about it, that could have happened to anyone.”

When he looks over at me, I suddenly realize I have been staring at his face the entire time. “Hey, Tavi?”

I like the way he says my name. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for doing this with me. I had a lot of fun.” His gaze shifts to the steps, his voice going a bit more quiet, “maybe we can do it again some time?”

The smile on my face keeps growing bigger and bigger. “I would love that.”

His eyes meet mine again, there is a big smile on his face as well. “Okay. Then it's a date.”

My pulse quickens. Did I hear that correctly?

I raise my eyebrows, “a date?”

His face flushes even more now. “As friends I mean. Friends of course.” Hugo’s eyes dart away from mine.

Friends.

Any hope I might have had is immediately crushed by his words.

How can I even think about anything more than friendship?

“Oh,” I have completely misinterpreted the situation. I feel so dumb. “Friends of course.”

I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. But I don’t want Hugo to see any of that in my eyes. As I focus on the wall in front of me, I suddenly realize we’ve already reached the top of the stairs. How did I manage to get up here without paying any attention to the steps?

He must have noticed the disappointment. “We can do whatever you want and I can play my awful song for you.”

Now that I think of it, a friendship with Hugo might be for the best anyway. Today has been one of the nicest days I’ve had here in the palace.

The promise of some music makes me smile again, “yeah sure, that should be interesting.”

“So we have a plan.” There is a short silence before he continues speaking. “I don't actually know which room is yours.” And then he just starts laughing.

I don’t know what to make of this. “Didn't you come to my room before this tour?” I say as I let go of his arm. “Anyway it's the first one on the left here.”

“Yeah, I should have memorized the room number but I think I was a bit distracted by you.”

“Distracted by me?” I don’t remember doing anything that could have distracted him. I’ve reached my door now, but when I place my hand on the doorknob I turn around to face him one more time.

He shakes his head, “I just mean it’s nice talking to you so I wasn’t really paying to where your room is.”

“Oh okay,” I nod my head. “Anyway thanks for today, it was fun.” I smile again.

Hugo returns the smile. “Of course. Any time. Though I think I should consider what you said... I didn’t show you around much for supposedly being your tour guide.”

That is definitely true. We had only been to the music room and I had already known what it looked like. And let’s not forget the stairs, that was a whole different experience. It didn’t even matter, it had been a fun day. “It's okay. Though a 5-star review,” I say as I crunch my face, “I'm not sure.”

I push the door leading to my bedroom open, but the sound of Hugo chuckling makes me turn around again. “There’s always next time I guess. I’m sure my awful guitar playing will automatically make the experience 5 stars.”

“Don't you dare think you can bribe me with music.” I narrow my eyes at him, trying to stay serious. But I fail miserably, I can’t stop the laughter from coming out.

There is a smile on his face again. “I'll find something else to bribe you with.” His gaze shifts to my door, “see you at dinner?”

“Yes,” I nod my head before I turn around. I push my door open a bit more so I can actually walk into my room. Before I close it, I smile at him one more time, “bye.”

He returns the smile, “bye.”

I close the door behind me. A quick scan of the room tells me my maids haven't arrived yet. Good. This gives me a little bit of time to get my head in the right place before I have to face other people again.

I sit down on the floor with my back towards the door. On the other side I hear the sound of retreating footsteps echoing in the hallway. I pull up my legs and lean my elbows on top of them.

Friendship. I need to keep that in mind.

Holy freaking shit.

#selectionoc #side fic #fic

[akurathereaper]

❣️💗🖤💜 ewyn?

Since this is going to be a bit longer, all answers are under the cut!!

When did your OC first realize they were in love? How did they react to the realization?

(I apologize for how shoddily Airell is sketched)

     So basically, for both of them, it was a slow burn, the slowest of burns, since at first Airell was really cold toward Ewyn, and Ewyn didn’t know how to deal with the fact there was a sylvari that he didn’t “hear” (for those who do not know: Ewyn’s connection to the Dream is so strong that he sometimes “loses” himself in others of his kind. Since that happens, he isolates himself on an island near the Grove and sells medicine and herbs, working as a mender for those who are really fucked up. He doesn’t get visitors often and is a complete social wreck)

     Ewyn didn’t realize he started falling in love until they both were deep in it, for Airell, he kept denying it because he was still getting over his ex and the whole “I’m an Elder Dragon now, I must brood” thingo, while Ewyn was a first timer into the “Is this love, or is this just fantasy”. He was actually getting a bit scared that he wanted to get close to Airell in both physical and not physical way. 

     Everyone who came to Ewyn’s island when those two were there instantly thought they were dating, but the two didn’t even confess first. It was incredible.

Describe your OC’s partner from their point of view! What do they really think about them?

     A tough nut! There’s a lot of things Ewyn loves about Airell, and a lot that he’s not so hot about, as is in any relationship.

     Airell keeps things in, he’s the personification of that John Mulaney bit of “I keep all my emotions in here, and then one day, I die.”  It sometimes gets on Ewyn’s nerves, since he can’t just “read” it out of him from the Dream. 

     He loves that he can’t hear Airell, but in the tiniest of way, it saddens him he can’t really understand Airell through that bond he shares with everyone else. But it’s what makes them able to be together, and Ewyn knows that deep down. It’s just that he wishes Airell talked to him more about his problems.

    They both share love of food and cooking, although Airell is the one who cooks the main meals, while Ewyn is mostly the baker and brewer. When they work together in the kitchen, their synergy is perfect and Ewyn always has a lot of fun. He also loves when Airell comes to help him with carrying stuff around, especially heavy bags and stuff (I mean, have you seen Ewyn’s arms? Twigs, I tell ya, twigs), and he’s always enthusiastic of sharing interesting bits about the herbs and flowers around. He hopes Airell doesn’t mind that he rants about them a lot. 

     From the physical pov, Airell could look anyhow, and Ewyn would still like him, but there are perks of Airell being a stronk boi. Mainly that Ewyn gets to be carried around *wink wonk* and more. Somewhere inside he’s also deeply satisfied they “fit” together, since he’s a rose and Airell has thorns, he finds poetry in that.

Have they ever had a really bad argument where they almost broke up?

     Well, not broke up, but it was pretty serious, when one thinks about it.

     This was after some time passed from Ewyn’s kidnapping by Joko, Airell’s outing as harboring good ol’ daddy Mordy, and them coming out as “I love you.” “I know.” thing. 

     Airell was allowed to stay with Ewyn, since Ewyn would be the one that would firstly know if Airell was becoming second Mordremoth (and also because Akura, the Commander, owed Ewyn a life debt). Since this was years after Mordremoth’s death and Maguuma Jungle’s “was freed”, Airell wanted to go check on his family, the Itzel frogs in Verdant Brink and to go to the Ameyalli festival, but he refused to bring Ewyn along for one good reason.

     Mordrem kept running around in that Jungle, and if one got close enough, there was a good chance Ewyn was gonna go insane from the sheer mind pressure of them. He knows that because Ewyn was exposed to a mordrem before and it took him days to fully recover from it, mentally.

     Ewyn argued he wasn’t a little princess to be guarded and kept alone for his safety, but Airell stood his ground, and refused to risk it. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something happened to Ewyn because he allowed him to tag along.

     The argument spiralled out of control and both of them did the “I will shut this door with more force than normal to showcase how angry I am you don’t understand my point” and Airell left for the festival, making sure to ask the Wardens in the Grove to keep an eye on Ewyn. He was fully convinced Ewyn would try to follow him. The fact that he basically imprisoned him in his own home made Ewyn even more furious, and after like a month or two when Airell came back, you bet they had a long, long talk about doing such a thing.

     Airell had singed hair for weeks.

Give a random fact about their daily life together!

     Well, this would be more like a continuation of the above answer.

     The next year, Airell gave in and brought Ewyn with him to the festival of  Ameyalli, and to introduce him to everyone in there. 

     Everyone in the tribe absolutely adored Ewyn, for two reasons:

1) he’s adorable as heck

2) he kept up with their talks about potions and herbs and poisons

     They grown to like him so fast Airell was astonished, and one could say, he was super relieved, because if they didn’t like one another…. well, I’m sure you all know how awkward it is between your SO and family if they don’t fancy each other.

     They stayed there for a long time, did the yeehoo by the altar because Airell is classy, made friends, and came back, without an incident. Also they taught Ewyn new swear words and taught him how to drink. Airell wasn’t sure how to handle that, and now he had to think of how to explain to others that Ewyn called them a cunt in frog language.

      And that’s that! Lotsa words, less pictures, but this was a smth I don’t have the skill with to sum up in a few sketches.

If you wanna know more about others too, just drop an ask! I’m always available up for it, even though it might take a while.

also sorry if some sentences are weird or there are typos I didn’t notice

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #Ewyn #Airell #gw2 art #sketches #sketch #art #sylvari #ask

[kajillionaires]

there’s a bug like an angel stuck to the bottom of my glass with a little bit left as i got older i learned im a drinker sometimes a drink feels like family

#bug like an angel #mitski #shut up itzel #hozier and mitski releasing back to back ohhhh high school me is losing her mind rn

[lettersfromn0where]

For the end of the year asks. 2, 14, and/or 25...

1. Album of the year: hard to say, especially if it has to be a 2019 release. If it doesn’t, probably “Know.” by Jason Mraz?

14. Favorite book this year: GAAH, THIS IS H A R D. But...probably a tie between the Illuminae Files trilogy and “The Fountains of Silence” by Ruta Sepetys.

25. Character I’ve created: there have been a great deal of them, but my favorite...uhhh...that’s very difficult. Three favorites:

- Aramina Oshana: character from my first novel, written early this year. She’s a young soldier under an authoritarian regime who doesn’t realize that she’s actually a survivor of the religious persecution that took her entire family (except one older sister, whose existence she is unaware of), taken as a baby and indoctrinated by the military, and deserts after realizing who she really is. I love love love her arc - favorite part of that novel, no question.

-Itzel Santiago: same novel as Aramina. Actually, same arc, too - she’s Ari’s best and only friend. She’s a pilot (Ari is in special ops), which is kind of a tradition in her family, and she generally seems to have no regard for her own safety. (We love those 100% unintentional Poe Dameron vibes ohp) She’s warm, sassy, reckless, impulsive, and endlessly loyal, and I might actually like her more than I like Aramina. She’s crazy and kind of makes terrible choices but she is a precious child who must be protected at all costs :)

-Phoebe Vu: character from that superhero novel I never shut up about. She’s extremely compassionate but terrible at putting that into words, and generally is the smollest bean. I love all my Radiant kiddos but she’s my favorite. (Oh, and she heals people. That’s her ability.)

Thank you for asking my favorite question ;)

#asks #dayenurose

[skylarstark4826]

King Namor would always tell his two children stories of people who lived in the sea. These stories were their favorite bedtime stories when they were younger. Now, when their father tries to tell them more stories of people who lived in the sea, Prince Attuma and Princess Namora would just roll their eyes at their dad. The brother and sister duo liked to explore by way of sea constantly and had never seen these so-called people who live in the waters. Even though the two would constantly bicker while at home in the kingdom of Talokan they worked well together while sailing. They’ve been to multiple countries and most of the other continents together. They got their love of sailing from their father who would be at sea most of his days before Attuma was born. Then, he started sailing less and he kept it to a minimum when Namora was born. After their mother died in an accident when they were little King Namor gave up sailing all together. When his children were old enough he taught them to sail and had them continue in person trades with other countries.

Attuma watched as his sister swung gracefully over his head through the sails. Namora preferred to work the sails and observe the sea while he preferred to steer the ship. There were numerous Talokanil sailors tasked to go with them both for company and to keep them safe. Attuma was softly humming a tune that he remembered his mother singing to him and his sister. He heard a soft thump on the deck behind him and turned enough to see Namora behind him. Her long black hair was twisted up on top of her head, she wore a dark blue dress that went just a little past her knees and no shoes. She swore that the lack of shoes helped her get around the sails easier and he had shrugged in response. The crew was entirely men besides one other woman, their cousin Itzel, who was the ship’s cook. The crew had expressed concern over a woman working the sails but Attuma shut that down immediately. His little sister was perfectly capable of working the sails and she’d ask for help if she needed it, which wasn’t often. Underneath the crystal blue water off of the continent of Africa, there was an underwater kingdom called Wakanda. The kingdom housed an entire population of merfolk throughout their land. King T’chaka and Queen Ramonda had three kids, two daughters and a son. T’challa was the oldest, followed by Shuri and then Riri as the youngest. The three siblings were thick as thieves and constantly got into trouble together along with their cousins Eric and Okoye. The five young royal merfolk were giving King T’chaka gray hairs but his wife just laughed at their shenanigans. She was always telling him to let them cause trouble for now so that they’ll be better to rule their underwater nation together. Okoye and Riri always wandered too far from the castle while T’challa, Shuri and Eric preferred to stay close to home. Shuri could always find whatever she needed for her experiments not far off from the castle. T’challa and Eric were always either helping her gather things or trying to keep the wanderers close by. It could be exhausting being the only men out of the bunch but they wouldn't trade it for the world, they loved their sisters and would do anything for them.

Okoye and Riri had just returned to their little cave with more human items that they had found while exploring. The woman and young girl worked together to place the items with other ones like them. The two swam back and admired all of their human things that they’ve collected together over the years. “I wonder what it would be like to live on the surface.” Riri said to no one in particular. Okoye nodded in agreement then the two of them swam back towards the palace. On their way back they were accosted by a crab and a fish, Ayo and Aneka. Ayo was a mostly red crab although she had some purple dusting her shell. Aneka was a small but beautiful fish and she was mostly purple with some orange in the middle. “Where have you two been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Ayo questioned as they all began to move towards the palace. “We’ve been out exploring, don’t worry we were being safe.” Okoye replied to the crab. Ayo began muttering something under her breath about not wanting children and Okoye rolled her eyes.

When the four entered the palace they went right to the throne room. King T’chaka, Queen Ramonda, Prince T’challa, Princess Shuri and Prince Eric were already there and waiting for them to arrive. “I’m sorry we’re late uncle, we lost track of time while exploring.” Okoye explained to the king. “Don’t worry dear niece, you aren’t that late. You’ve arrived before the council has.” Queen Ramonda answered in a gentle tone. Okoye nodded, then she and Riri took their places in their seats as the royal family waited for the council to join them for the meeting. It wasn’t long after Okoye and Riri joined their family that the council joined them as well. Ayo was standing on the armrest of King T’chaka’s throne while Aneka swam around The Princes and Princesses. Okoye looked at her brother and cousins and could see that they were all bored out of their minds. She was as well and wished she could just leave, the king along with his council weren’t ready to step down from ruling yet so why were they even here? The meeting felt like it lasted for millennia rather than the hour it probably actually lasted. As soon as they were excused the cousins left as fast as they could.

Namora sighed as she stared at the water over the side of the ship. Attuma had asked her to stay on board with Itzel and a few crew members because the person they were at port to trade with didn’t like women being present during negotiations. Her older brother had promised to take her to the market afterwards so she supposed it was ok that she was stuck on the ship. She never understood why men in other countries had such backwards thinking, maybe it’s because she was raised as an equal to her brother her whole life. She is an equal to her older brother and didn’t know why others didn’t get that. Namora paced around the ship while waiting for Attuma to return to take her to the market. He returned two hours later and took her with him to the market. The two looked around together when something caught her eye, it was a jade statuette that had a family of merfolk carved on it. She wordlessly held it up to her brother and he nodded then turned to the vendor to buy it for her. Once it was purchased she happily slipped it into the little satchel that she carried. Their father had made it for her on her twelfth birthday and it’s held up since then. She skipped along behind Attuma and got a few more trinkets to add to the collection in her room.

When the siblings returned to the ship that got ready to set sail to Africa. They had a client there who was willing to give them cloth and other things in exchange for some weapons. Talokan always kept enough weapons for its military but they preferred not to use them. They were more than happy to give others who needed them the weapons that sat collecting dust. Namora was back up amongst the sails while Attuma was behind the steering wheel. Several of the other crew members hoisted the anchor so they could set sail again. Once the anchor was up they slowly moved their way out of the harbor and towards the open sea. When they hit open water they were met with a strong gust of wind and started to travel faster.

Okoye and Riri decided to head towards the town on the west coast of Africa where they liked to watch the townsfolk. They watched people walking around the market that was near the water from behind a rock. They were far enough out that hardly anyone looked that way and even if they did, they wouldn’t spot the mermaids with the way they were looking around the rock. Okoye saw two people walking by together with a few men trailing behind them. The two seemed to be brother and sister so the people behind them might be a crew or guards of some sort. The tall man that was walking alongside the girl was a handsome man. His long dark hair was tied back into a ponytail and he watched his sister as she sometimes skipped a ways ahead of him. “Wow, he’s gorgeous.” Okoye whispered. “Where is he? I want to see the man you’re looking at too.” Riri whispered excitedly and Okoye showed her. Her eyes widened as she looked at the siblings. “Woah, he is gorgeous and so is the girl with him. They look like they’re away from home though.” Riri babbled with excitement. Okoye had to admit that her young cousin was right, they had never seen these two around before. ‘I wonder where they came here from.’ she thought as the two continued to watch them.

Namora sat outside their clients home and was pouting, of course he was another man that looked down on women. She was grateful to be off the ship this time and on solid ground. She turned and looked out to the vast expanse of the sea, hoping they’d return home soon. She loved to travel with her older brother but they’d been away from home for a while now and she misses their father. While she was looking at the sea, Namora could’ve sworn that she saw two heads out in the water. The girl shook her head then rubbed at her eyes, it’s official, she’s been at sea for too long. Attuma had promised this was their last trading destination then they’d head home. He didn’t return to her until nearly three hours later and he took her to dinner at a place that their client recommended, this was his way of apologizing for taking so long. After dinner they went back to the ship and decided to stay in harbor for the night because some fishermen and other sailors said a storm was going to blow through a few miles out from the town. Namora slept buried against her brother’s side that night due to the thunder and he held her tight.

Okoye and Riri decided to recruit the others to follow this ship they had seen to see where it went back to. T’challa, Eric and Shuri agreed to follow them and told the king and queen that they needed some supplies further out from home. The ship stayed overnight in the town’s harbor due to a bad storm a few miles out. The next morning the five cousins tailed the ship as it headed out to the sea. They knew it’d be a while before they reached wherever they were going. They coasted in the wake coming from the ship and would take turns popping their heads up to look at the people on the ship. They all agreed that the crew of the ship were very beautiful people. This knowledge made them eager to see where the ship returned to. It took a few days but they finally entered the waters close to the continent of North America. They followed the ship cautiously but they didn’t head towards the country now called The United States. The ship pulled into a harbor that was outside a kingdom and was met with a man on the dock that had graying hair. The girl half launched herself off the ship and into the man’s arms causing them to realize that this was the siblings’ father.

Attuma was happy to be home but he couldn’t help thinking that he was going crazy. Occasionally on their voyage home, Attuma could’ve sworn he’d seen heads in the water. Namora agreed with him and said she saw the same thing in the water. One of them was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, she looked a little older than him and had long hair that was braided. When asked about it Namora said she’d seen a girl about her age who also had braided hair. They wondered if they’d be able to somehow meet these people who live in the water. One night, the siblings go down to the dock to see if they could spot the people again. It wasn’t long before five heads emerged from the water. There were two men and another woman with them, he assumed they were family members. They all talked to each other for hours and the merfolk even showed off their colorful tails. There was even a fascinating colored crab and a beautiful colored tropical fish.

The group of royals discussed random topics until Namora and Attuma saw a lantern coming towards them from the palace. The group split up with promises of seeing each other again as soon as they could. By the time the guards reached the brother and sister the merfolk were already gone. They walked back to the palace with questions on how to help their new companions live on land with them.

#okoye x attuma #attuma x okoye #attoye #attuma and okoye #general okoye #mcu okoye #black panther okoye #attuma of talokan #mcu attuma #okoye #attuma #black panther #black panther wakanda forever #Human!Attuma #human!attuma #Mermaid!Okoye #mermaid!okoye

[viz-is-creative-also-screaming]

A Nice Friendly Family Dinner

Word count: 752 

tw: violence and s p o o k

Family dinners are usually portrayed as either tense events or fairy tale dreams. Of course, they weren’t exactly family, but it was all they had. As marred as they all were, there was a distinct (yet fragile) compromise between them.

But tonight, the silence was palpable. Each of them ate their dinner quietly, as if even a single word would break the fragile truce.

“…are we not going to talk about this?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing. No one looked at each other. 0229 sighed and ran their hands through their hair. “We have to talk about this.”

“No,” Adam stated defiantly. He rose from his seat and strode to the hallway. Vin nearly knocked over her seat and made a move to grab his shoulder, but Adam caught her hand.

“Leave it,” he whispered. “We’re not cut out for this.”

Adam left the room, leaving the others in the silence.

Dr. Itzel stood there for a moment, staring at the place Adam had disappeared, before turning on his heel to glare at the Host.

“Don’t put this on me,” it began, “You know that it's—”

“Not your fault?” The doctor scoffed. “You are just a snake in that white suit.”

The Host leaned back in its chair, food untouched. “Stating the obvious, Zed.”

“Shut up you backstabbing—”

“Hey now. Don’t get your featherth ruffled, doc.” Ector popped another grape into his mouth, cane on his lap and feet propped up on the table. “You know what happenth.”

The Good Doctor pressed a hand to his forehead. “I can’t deal with this. I can’t.” Sinking into her seat, she let the silence overwhelm them once more.

The Host shook its head and went back to writing on its notepad. For a full minute, its pen was poised above the paper, but nothing was written. Finally, in a fit of rage, it threw the pen across the room and slammed a hand on the table loudly. 0229 and Vin jumped, and Ector raised a brow.

“GODDAMN IT!” It knocked over its chair and stormed upstairs.

The doctor and the subject looked at each other uncertainty, and then glanced at Ector. Before either of them could say anything, he raised a finger to stop them.

“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” he warned. “It’ll jutht land you in more trouble.”

“But what if we—”

“No. You-know-who ith in a bad mood and active.” He threw a grape into the air and leaned his head back to catch it. “Betht to just wait it out.”

This time, it was 0229 that stood up. “For such a smart and powerful being, you sure do like to do nothing,” they spat. “Just lay down and take it, why don’t y—”

In an instant, Ector had pinned them against the wall, hand at their throat. He was all dark eyes and darker words, and danger radiated off of him in waves. He leaned into 0229’s ear.

“Don’t you dare try to tell me how to do my job,” he whispered. 0229 struggled, but he caught their foot with the end of his cane and pinned it to the floor. “We’re in danger already. Do you really want to make another enemy?” He cracked his cane against their shin and stepped back, leaving them to crumple to the floor.

0229 winced and cursed under their breath. Dr. Itzel, who had been frozen in fear up to this point, rushed to them. He glared up at Ector, who tipped his hat and grinned.

“Jutht trying to make a point, doc. We can’t afford to thlip.” He raised his cane and turned it to the ceiling, banging against the plaster twice. “Ain’t that right?” he asked in a slightly louder voice, looking up towards the next floor.

He turned on his heel and strolled towards the hallway, his long coat swishing behind him. He stopped at the hallway entrance. “Careful there. They might take it out on you.”

In a flash, he was gone, leaving doctor and patient alone.

The pair didn’t look at each other, or even speak. There was too much silence between them to fit speech. Dr. Itzel helped 0229 up, and they made their way to their rooms in an odd staggering gait. Their uneven footsteps echoed in the dirty passages.

They did not say goodnight; they only looked at each other for a moment. And then, with a slamming of doors and their accompanying echoes, there was no one else.

I’d say it was a successful meal.

#my fics #a nice friendly family dinner

[wolfypuppypiles]

would you consider writing a one shot where after the fight, max is seriously hurt or killed and Magnus hear from someone that 'the lightwood boy was hurt/killed' and he panics thinking it is alec and rushes to the institute?? Pretty please!

Yes!!! Sorry this isn’t very good thank you for the prompt I love them!

Magnus cursed under his breath as he realized where he was. He’d gone for a walk to clear his head but he always seemed to end up going to the same place. The institute was lit up with lights, red flashing colors glowing from the windows.

That wasn’t right. Why were the alarms going off?

Fear began trickling its way into the warlock’s chest, at the thought of something happening to Alec, but he stopped himself before he could make it a step further. He had basically just broken up with him, he’d told Alec that he couldn’t do what he needed when they were together. Alec had lied to him.

He let out a sigh. He was mad, yes, but he still loved Alec. It hurt, but he couldn’t get the Nephilim out of his head or his heart. He didn’t have to get involved with anything, but maybe he should just make sure he was okay.

The warlock knocked on the door of the institute, becoming more worried as the alarm blared on. The door suddenly swung open and a shadowhunter let Magnus in, looking flustered as he directed him to the infirmary.

“They’re in the first room, and you better hurry. I heard it’s not looking too good.”

The Nephilim hurried off, leaving Magnus confused and a little irritated. But it was the next person to bump into him that really made him worry.

Itzel, a warlock with claws and ink black eyes, that he knew as a skilled healer, ran towards him looking flustered. There was blood on her hands, smeared across her fingers and claws, and her eyes were begging, as she gripped his arm.

“High warlock! I’m so glad you’re here, what took you so long? I need your help, I don’t know what to do to save him!”

Magnus took a step back, becoming anxious at her behavior. His voice was hard. “What are you talking about? No one called me.”

Her large eyes blinked owlishly as she frowned, confused. “I thought you would have been notified? Surely one of them would have, especially given your relationship with him.”

A dark pit of worry, churning and stealing his breath, formed inside Magnus’ chest, and he gripped her arm. “What is it? What happened?”

She looked at him, and her voice was like a whisper. She was afraid.“The Nephilim, the Lightwood boy, he was harmed. I tried to save him but his injuries…”

Magnus didn’t wait for her to finish. He tore from her grip and ran to the infirmary, his mind racing with all the fears he’d had about losing Alec.

Every time he’d said goodbye to Alec, and sent him off on a mission, he’d worried about what could happen. And now something had happened and he wasn’t there.His heart pounded in his chest as he ran, and his chest strained as he held his breath. Until he ran into the infirmary and saw him.

Alec was sitting beside a bed, leaning over the unconscious form of his little brother, holding his hand, and crying.

His shoulders shook as he spoke to the young shadowhunter in the bed. Magnus stopped in the doorway, listening.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you. But you’ll be okay, just hang on, Max. I’m here, don’t be scared.”

Soft sobs came from him, as he brushed his baby brother’s hair back, and Magnus’ heart broke. It wasn’t Alec that was hurt, it was Max.

Magnus took another step forward, and Alec turned at the sound. His eyes were full of tears, and Magnus could only watch the emotions passing through them. Surprise, grief, relief, hope.

“Magnus, please you have to help him!”

The warlock came closer as Alec stood, stepping towards Magnus but not letting go of his brother’s hand.

“Please, I know you hate me, but he’s only twelve. I can’t…I can’t lose him.” There was so much pain in those eyes, and as the warlock came forward, he found that he could barely look away.

He was so relieved that Alec was all right that he felt almost faint. But he wasn’t all right, not really. Max was still just a child, and Alec couldn’t lose him.

He wanted so badly to take Alec into his arms, to hold him and make sure he was unharmed. But Max needed him now.

He nodded and looked down at the shadowhunter in the bed. There was blood at his nose and his face was pale. Magnus lifted a hand, igniting a blue flame of magic to envelop his palm. He used a simple spell, one to find the damage and show him how to best repair it.

But Itzel had been right, the damage was bad, but Itzel wasn’t as old as Mangus, she didn’t know all the spells at hand for something like this.

He used every piece of knowledge he had, as well as a very strong potion and a very old spell. He laid the last layer of magic over the child, and shut off his magic. “He’ll need to rest for several days, but he’ll be okay.”

Alec began sobbing again, relieved beyond words, and practically fell into the warlock’s arms. “Thank you. Thank you, Magnus.”

His hands were shaking where he gripped the other man’s jacket, and his breaths came in gasps.

Magnus hugged him back and patted the hair at the nape of his neck. It had always made Alec feel better. His voice was quiet and sad. “I’m so sorry I left you, Alec. I should have stayed, I shouldn’t have been so angry with you.”

The Nephilim hugged Magnus harder, tucking his face to his neck, as though he was afraid the warlock would let go and leave. “I’m sorry I lied, I just wanted to keep everyone safe. Please forgive me, Magnus. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t.”

His voice was cracked and wobbly with tears and Magnus crumbled. “You won’t. I’m here, Alexander. I won’t leave.”

Alec let out another sob and took Magnus’ hand as he was released from the hug. The warlock wiped at the tears on those pale cheeks, as he spoke. “I didn’t know Max was hurt, I would have come sooner if I did. I only came because I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and then I saw the alarms in here. Itzel said a Lightwood boy was hurt and I just…I thought you were dying and it was like my heart stopped. I thought I could bear leaving you, but I can’t. Just the thought of something happening to you makes me sick. I won’t leave again. I’m so sorry about Max, but I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Alec was so relieved, he felt as if his head was spinning. So much had happened in such a short time. He squeezed Magnus’ hand and brought their clasped fingers to his mouth, so he could lay a kiss across Magnus’ knuckles. “Thank you for saving him. I love you, Magnus.”

“I love you too, Alexander.”(This fic is called ‘anyone else but you.’ and you can find it and my other 142 works on my ff.net and ao3 accounts through the links below. PLease tell me what you think?!? And hit me up with prompts if you like.)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11604903

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12586073/1/anyone-else-but-you

#malec #whump #alec lightwood #magnus bane #spoilers #shadowhunters #max lightwood #hurt/comfort #fic #fanfic #whump fic #malec fic

[decorous-biohazart]

You Did This.

Writing piece recounting one of Phoenix Nest’s most tragic events for use in a roleplay. 

"We need a medic on site, south gate NOW!" 

A voice yelled, the desperation and anger in the voice echoing through the camp. It came from the internals of Phoenix Nest just inside the main gate. The garage was closed, people lining the streets standing in the inches of snow lining the frostbitten ground. The white blanket and blue ice on the pavement was stained red as Dingo and Decorous shuffled through the large metal doors with someone between them. A boy, just over 18, and leaving a trail of crimson in his wake as they pulled him in to safety. 

Behind them Cell and Itzel both slid inside quickly, weapons drawn and wary eyes trained on the street. The bowwoman was waving for the guard on the wall to quickly shut the gates as Dingo and Decorous escorted the boy towards a team of medics rushing through the crowd with stretcher in hand. He was pale, convulsing as his body grew colder as Dingo grasped his violently shaking hand.  

"You're gonna be alright, son. Just hang in there we've got a medic on the way. At least we bloody well should WE NEED DOCTORS OUT HERE DAMMIT!" he yelled around him to any with medical practice who would listen as Megan approached hastily, her face as pale as the snow along with another nurse in tow at her side who quickly lifted the boy's shirt to assess the injury. 

"What happened here?" the nurse asked, her voice thick with an unknown accent.

"Gunshot, 9mm to the side. We found him maybe two minutes after he was injured-" Decorous explained hastily before his attention was taken away by the sound of screaming from the crowd. 

 "GET OUT OF MY WAY, THAT'S MY SON!" a female voice shrieked as a woman charged forward almost barreling over Decorous. Her face was twisted with anguish and terror as her wiry hands took Dingo's place as he stepped back. 

"Th-that's my boy." she sputtered as frozen tears streaked her cheeks. Somehow her presence alone seemed to ease the boy's fear, turning his head to look her in the eyes with a weak smile. 

 "H-hi mom... I-I guess I missed curfew." He joked faintly. 

 "Stop it, Jared, what were you thinking!?" the woman retorted, wiping the smile from his face as she doubled over with sobs, placing his hand against her forehead. "What were you thinking...?" 

 The boy, Jared, mirrored her despair as his lip started to quiver with the despair of his condition washing over him. "I-I'm sorry," he shivered, "I just wanted to help-" 

 "You put a lot of people at risk. I admire your resolve but that was very stupid of you." the nurse retorted, earning a concerned look from Megan before she went back to work washing a cloth with antiseptic.

"Megan bloody tell me is he gonna make it!?" Dingo demanded. 

 "I-I don't know," she stammered, "He's lost a lot of blood and sepsis is already setting in. We don't have time to get him inside we-"

"Is he going to live?" Dingo demanded again over the sobbing woman, this time Megan could only respond with a distant look in her eyes and a shake of her head. The Australian's teeth grit as his eyes shadowed beneath his hat before turning on his heel, his boots crunching in the snow as he paced towards the crowd. 

 "Dingo, do not-" Decorous began but was cut off as the sniper pushed passed him. The amount of resistance from Decorous was minimal almost as if he wasn't fully intent on stopping him from what he was about to do. He stepped up to a man at the front of the crowd, his hair well-kept and bushy eyebrows above his sunken in eyes, grabbing him by the collar he shoved him against a light post. A few people stepped aside with gasps and screams as Dingo locked the man's gaze with his, his ice blue eyes burning with anger. 

 "This was your doing. YOURS. You told that boy that he could fight on his own, that he should never rely on anyone else and you got him KILLED. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?" Dingo yelled, his mouth foaming as he shook the man in tandem with his lecture. 

The stranger's hands were clasped around Dingo's wrist, blood staining his fingertips and shirt where Dingo held it with an iron grip. His eyes looked at his wrist for a moment before stepping back and releasing the man's collar. 

 "Look at you. Look at your hands. His blood is all over them. Just like mine," he said almost taunting as he raised his own hands in front of him. "But I stained mine just like those nurses and his grieving mother trying to save him, yours are stained like you were holding the gun that shot him. You filled his head with dreams built on being the wrong man." 

 "That's not fair! I showed him how stupid following you blind idiots was! I taught him to how stand on his own two feet-!" the man argued.

"AND NOW HE'LL DIE ON HIS BACK." Dingo snapped back as if he could spit acid. "He'll die believing the lie his father put in him before he could find out what it meant to be his own man. Following your ideals and your beliefs before he could find his own. You told him to stay inside and give up on what he believed in and now he's dying for it."

The man had tears in his eyes but his face was red with rage, his eyes darting all over Dingo as if he was looking for an angle to attack before he shrank back as Christi approached and stood at Dingo's side. 

"What is the meaning of all this?" she questioned prudently. 

 "Miss Rheddstone, tell your subordinate to know his place! He's attacking a grieving man in his time of loss for his own ideology!" the man begged.

"He is not my subordinate," she said, her voice as cold as the concrete the man groveled on. "And he has the right to speak his mind. Especially when he is correct. You've been under investigation multiple times by the bureau for child abuse and now look at you. You would defend your actions as he lay dying instead of being at his side. You'd defend your reputation as opposed to protecting your son, because if he did not follow your word he had nothing. He died for an arrogant man that he believed was the personification of what this camp should stand for." 

Christi spoke almost as if she were giving a speech, her method so condescending in the most painful way as he stood to represent the real image of a leader without even intending it. The man before her tried so much harder to demand respect for naught and she took it with such ease. 

 "The difference between us and you is we stop people like you. The people who destroyed our world and took lives believing it was for a righteous cause." To add to the poetry of her words, Decorous stood just beyond her. 

Christi's eyes remained unwavering as she crouched staring into the eyes of the man as the bloodcurdling cry from Jared's mother echoed off the camp walls. She sobbed with utter despair into her now deceased son's chest.

"I'm sure you'll forgive yourself within minutes because you believe what your son did was worth being proud of yourself for, but she never will forgive you for any of this," Christi said as she stood to her feet. "Now you can walk yourself to the holding chambers and answer for your part in this murder investigation or I can have the two men who were more of a father figure to that boy in his last minutes than you ever were take you by force. But whatever occurs between then and now is out of my jurisdiction and off the record." 

 As the cries of the mother continued to echo the man's eyes and continued darting between the Administrator and marksman before scanning the crowd as they all stared with disapproval and malice. 

 "What are you all looking at!?" he yelled, pulling himself up with the pole, using it to steady himself. "That was my son too, and believe it or not I loved him! He had more conviction than all of you useless bastards! Say what you want, but I will stand by my choices! I did my job, and that boy lost his way and chose to follow his own uninformed convictions! You killed my son! All of you!" The man howled, the veins in his neck bulging with his hoarse voice as he pushed his way through the crowd; yelling obscenities as he left. The woman in the military cap stepped up next to Decorous, giving him a tap on the shoulder. 

"Rubies, we should get going and find the guy who did this. If we're quick we can pick up his trail." In the same moment a shot rang out and the crowd dispersed, the few remaining opening up a path as they turned to look at the source of the sound. 

A Merc, one clad in body armor and a helmet marked with 'SECURITY' stepped backwards as the father of the boy stumbled with his hands clutching his chest, choking as blood spilled from his mouth before he stumbled into a snow drift. His eyes staring distantly as the life left his body and red stained the ground. 

 "I had no choice, he attacked me!" the man claimed, a few mumbles from the distraught crowd confirming his story as Decorous stared at the now unfolding massacre. 

 "We've no one to find, Itzel." Decorous said to his partner. 

"The one responsible just paid his dues." 

#Writing Exercise #Decorous #Itzel #Dingo #Christi #Cell #Megan #Writing #Musing #OC #RP